Axar Patel has been taken to a medical care facility © BCCI
With less than a week to for the start, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has plunged into a crisis with a player and another team member contracting the coronavirus.
Delhi Capitals allrounder Axar Patel has tested positive after joining the team in Mumbai with a negative report on March 28, and subsequently testing positive in the second test taken. He has been taken to a medical care facility.
A member of Chennai Super Kings’ content team too has tested positive and has subsequently been put under isolation. CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed the development to Cricbuzz, and said that the individual was not in contact with the players or the support staff and was on a different floor even before returning a positive result on his Covid-19 test.
Even as the franchises were grappling with the potential threat from the virus, reports emerged that multiple groundsmen of the Wankhede Stadium also failed the test. A Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) source has denied the reports, saying the groundstaff have subsequently come negative but the situation in Mumbai, which will be hosting 10 games in the first fortnight of the season, is fast becoming serious with the state Chief Minister not ruling out the possibility of reimposing a lockdown.
The BCCI is yet to reach out to the franchises over the threat from corona crisis but its officials are believed to be thinking about alternatives.
More to follow…
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