Monday's Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad, has been postponed after two players from the KKR camp tested positive for Covid-19, the BCCI said in an official statement.
"Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were found to be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days. All other team members have tested negative for COVID-19," said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.
As the day progressed, reports also emerged of MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings franchise too reporting positive cases with chief executive officer Kasi Viswanathan, bowling coach L Balaji and a bus cleaner testing positive.
ESPNCricnfo reported that all other players and staff tested negative in the test that was done on Sunday.
CSK is currently in Delhi for their IPL matches.
Delhi’s Jaitley stadium too in fact has been hit by the virus with three members of the ground staff testing positive. The five ground staff are believed to have been at the stadium during Sunday’s afternoon game between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Delhi is scheduled to host successive matches on May 4 (SunRisers Hyderabad-Mumbai Indians) and May 5 (Rajasthan Royals-CSK), but these two matches – and indeed the rest of the IPL – are now in grave doubt of carrying on.
Incidentally, the 60-match IPL reached its halfway mark on Monday, with the 30th match scheduled, between KKR and RCB, being postponed.
Monday Match Rescheduled, No New Date
The only official word so far on the cases in the IPL’s bio-bubble has come regarding the cases in the KKR franchise.
"The medical team is in continuous touch with the duo and are monitoring their health. Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases and treat them at the earliest," said the BCCI.
The BCCI said that the medical team is also "determining the close and casual contacts of the two positive cases during the 48 hours prior to collection of the sample that returned the positive test results".
The KKR players, now in Delhi for their Tuesday match, were locked up in their rooms and didn't go for practice on Monday, following the reports of positive tests from their camp. If their tests till Thursday (May 6) return negative results, they will be allowed to train on May 6 and 7. They will then be available for the May 8 match, provided that game takes place at all.
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