Three members of Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) IPL 2021 contingent test COVID-19 positive
Three members of the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) contingent for the ongoing 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have tested positive for COVID-19.
CSK chief executive officer Kasi Viswanathan, bowling coach L Balaji and a bus cleaner emerged positive for coronavirus upon latest round of testing on Sunday (May 2).
Thankfully none of the playing members proved exposed to the virus as the rest of the CSK contingent inside the bubble in Delhi tested negative.
While an official confirmation of the developments inside the CSK camp is awaited, ESPNcricinfo reported “Viswanathan, Balaji and the member of the maintenance staff took a fresh test on Monday morning to rule out the possibility of a false positive.”
None of the CSK players have tested COVID-19 positive.
If the trio tests positive again, they’ll have to go through a 10-day quarantine in a designated facility outside the team bubble as per the BCCI SOPs for IPL 2021 and will be allowed to re-enter only after two successive negative COVID-19 tests.
Three members of Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) IPL 2021 contingent test COVID-19 positive
The Monday (May 3) afternoon has been a scary one for IPL fans as also the match scheduled for the evening in Ahmedabad between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got postponed indefinitely.
The BCCI and IPL authorities were forced to reschedule the match after two KKR players – Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier – tested COVID-19 positive, forcing the rest of the squad to go through a round of testing, from which they thankfully emerged negative.
It isn’t yet clear when the KKR-RCB encounter will now be held, but a string of positive tests for people inside IPL bubbles has led to anxiety over the future of the ongoing event, which is being held amid a devastating second wave of the pandemic in India.
Going back to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni led CSK, the team will be relieved to have all its playing squad available despite the shocking news of three positive tests inside their bubble.
CSK, who suffered their first-ever league exit last season in UAE, have been a team rejuvenated this summer and are currently second in the eight-team IPL 2021 points table with 5 wins and just 2 losses in 7 matches.