UNITED KINGDOM: Indian cricket team’s junior physio Yogesh Parmar has tested positive for COVID-19. Due to this, Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly is uncertain whether the fifth test against England scheduled from Friday will commence or not. Meanwhile, the Indian team has no physio at the moment. India’s head physio Nitin Patel and fielding coach R Shridhar are already in isolation.
Earlier, head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun also tested COVID-19 positive. Team India was forced to cancel its practice session for the test match on Thursday.
“We don’t know if a match will happen at the moment. Hopefully, we can get some game,” said Ganguly at the book launch of ‘Mission Domination’ in Kolkata. The RT-PCR test reports of the players are still awaited.
BCCI has reportedly asked England and Wales Cricket to spare a physio for India.
“The results of the RT-PCR tests (of players) are expected later in the day depending on which the fate of the game will be decided,” a BCCI source said.
The Indian players have been told to remain in their respective rooms as RT-PCR tests are being carried out.
Only batting coach Vikram Rathour was with the team when it won the fourth Test at the Oval on day five.
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All the players and the support staff are fully vaccinated. But, both teams are not operating in strict bio-bubbles with life in the UK almost back to normal.
The five-match Test series in England has not played in bio-bubble environments, unlike the previous cricket series and tournaments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With England easing Covid-19 restrictions, players and the support staff were allowed to travel to designated locations for food and other activities.
Shastri is likely to have got the symptoms after attending the launch of his book in the team hotel where outside guests were also allowed.
India currently leads the five-match series 2-1.
