In what some bad news for cricket fans, IPL 2021's second leg has been hit with COVID-19. Sunrisers Hyderabad's pacer T Natarajan has tested positive for COVID-19 and his close contacts along with him have been isolated.
Natarajan is currently asymptomatic.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are scheduled to play Delhi Capitals on 22 September in Dubai and the match will go on as per schedule, IPL confirmed in a statement.
"The entire contingent, including the close contacts, underwent RT-PCR tests at 5am local time on Wednesday and the test reports have come out negative. As a result, Wednesday's game between Sunrisers and Delhi Capitals will go ahead as scheduled at the Dubai International Stadium," the IPL statement read.
According to a report in Cricinfo, Natarajan had travelled separately, in a commercial flight from Bengaluru on 9 September, and linked up with the squad subsequently while most of the squad including Vijay Shankar and Periyaswamy Ganesan, had travelled to the UAE from Mumbai.
The medical team has identified the below mentioned six close contacts of the player, who have also been placed in isolation:
1. Vijay Shankar - Player
2. Vijay Kumar - Team Manager
3. Shyam Sundar J - Physiotherapist
4. Anjana Vannan - Doctor
5. Tushar Khedkar - Logistics Manager
6. Periyasamy Ganesan - Net Bowler
SRH are currently bottom of the IPL table while Delhi are second and can go top of the table with a win today in Dubai.
Natarajan was set to make a comeback to cricket in the second leg of the IPL 2021. He had sustained a knee injury and had subsequent surgery, which kept him out of action since appearing for the franchise in two matches of the first half of IPL 2021 in April.
Earlier on May 4, IPL 2021 was postponed in India after Wriddhiman Saha of SRH, DC's Amit Mishra, KKR bowlers Sandeep Warrier and Varun Chakravarthy, CSK's bowling and batting coaches, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Michael Hussey, tested positive for Covid-19 at the height of second wave in India.
The tournament resumed after a break of almost four months in the UAE with strict bio-bubble measures on September 19 with Chennai Super Kings beating defending champions Mumbai Indians by 20 runs in Dubai.
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