Sri Lanka vs India: Chahal, Gowtham test COVID-19 positive
In a major development, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and all-rounder K Gowtham have tested positive for COVID-19. The two players were identified as immediate contacts of all-rounder Krunal Pandya, who had tested positive on July 27. Chahal and Gowtham will have to stay back in Colombo along with Krunal for the time being. Here is more on the same.
Other six players expected to leave for India soon
The other six players, Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Deepak Chahar, and Ishan Kishan, identified as close contacts of Krunal, are expected to leave for India soon. The rest of the Indian contingent will return to India.
Chahal and Gowtham tested positive on Friday
It is understood that Chahal and Gowtham tested positive on Friday. The duo had tested negative along with the other six players on Thursday. Notably, Krunal had moved to an isolation facility immediately after he tested positive on July 27. Although the remaining eight players were staying at the team hotel, they were separated from the rest of contingent.
India lost the T20I series against Sri Lanka
With several top players missing, India were outplayed in the second and third T20Is respectively as they lost the series by a 2-1 margin. The second T20I saw India lose by four wickets and in the third match, SL won by seven wickets as India posted their third-lowest score in the format. India were forced to field an imbalanced side.
India's tour of Lanka was rescheduled earlier this month
Earlier this month, India's tour of Sri Lanka which was set to start from July 13, was rescheduled. This happened following positive cases of COVID-19 among the members of the Sri Lankan team set-up. Data analyst of the Sri Lanka cricket team, GT Niroshan, tested positive for COVID-19. Prior to that, batting coach Grant Flower had tested positive as well.
Indian Test team in England also suffered COVID-19 setbacks
Recently, the Indian cricket team's Test contingent in the UK too had COVID-19 setbacks. Rishabh Pant returned to the Team India camp post his COVID-19 recovery. Meanwhile, bowling coach Bharat Arun, Wriddhiman Saha, and Abhimanyu Easwaran too were forced into 10-days isolation after being in close contact with training assistant Dayananda Garani, who had tested positive.
