Manchester: Ahead of the fifth and final Test against England, a member of the Team India support staff has tested positive for COVID-19 in Manchester. This has led to Team India’s training session for Thursday afternoon being cancelled. The members will now undergo testing before they can take the field.
Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments confirmed the cancellation of Thursday’s training session due to a support staff member testing positive. “Yes, the team will not train and will undergo tests now that a support staff member has tested positive for COVID-19,” the source said.
This comes after India head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar returned positive results to their RT-PCR tests during the fourth Test. They are currently undergoing isolation and can come out only after returning two negative results.
On Sunday, just half an hour before the start of play on Day 4 of the fourth Test, the BCCI said its medical team had isolated Shastri, Bharat Arun, Sridhar, and physio Nitin Patel as a precautionary measure after Shastri’s lateral flow test returned positive on Saturday evening.
The remaining members of the Team India contingent had undergone two Lateral Flow Tests — one on Saturday night and another on Sunday morning. The members upon returning negative COVID reports were allowed to proceed for Day 4 of the fourth Test at The Oval against England.
Meanwhile, having registered an emphatic 157-run win in the fourth Test against England, Virat Kohli and boys would now have their eyes firmly set on winning the final Test at Manchester to complete a comprehensive 3-1 series win over the Three Lions.
