Team India received a major blow as their head coach Ravi Shastri tested positive for Covid before the fourth day of the fourth test. As a result, he was sent into isolation for 14 days. People who came in close contact with Ravi which includes the bowling coach Bharat Arun, were also sent into isolation.
According to ANI, Shastri is set to miss the fifth test in Manchester as he will be completing his 14 day isolation. Shastri needs two negative tests before he can come out of the isolation. The Manchester Test will begin on September 10.
“Unfortunately, Shastri will remain in isolation for 14 days and will have to return two negative tests before he can come out of isolation. He will not be a part of the Indian dressing room till then,” a source said.
Just hours before play on Day 4, BCCI shared a media advisory stating that its medical team had isolated Ravi Shastri, head coach, Bharat Arun, bowling coach, R. Sridhar, fielding coach, and Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, as a precautionary measure after Shastri’s lateral flow test returned positive on Saturday evening.
The remaining members of the Team India contingent underwent 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 ongoing fourth Test at The Oval against England.
Ravi Shastri fell ill on Saturday night around 8 pm: Vikram Rathour
India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour addressed the media after the fourth day’s play. He revealed that Ravi Shastri was feeling discomfort on Saturday night.
“Ravi bhai felt ill on Saturday night around 8 PM. He was having a little bit of discomfort yesterday, the medical team decided to go for a lateral flow test and it came out positive and that is when we all found that he is positive. The close contacts were identified and isolated so we will wait for the medical team to tell us when they can join back,” he said.
Rathour also stated that Ravi and other staff members are an integral part of the team. Hence they will be missed. However, he credited the boys for handling this well as this incident could have easily distracted them and affected their game.
“Ravi bhai, Bharat Arun, and R Sridhar have been an extremely important part of this setup, they have done well in the past five-six years and they have played a major role in the team doing well. This is what it is, they are not here. In the morning, it was a bit of a distraction, we had a word and we decided we need to focus on the cricket. We are here for this series, and I think the boys did well to not get distracted. There was a potential we could have been distracted, the credit needs to go to the boys for the way they handled themselves,” said Rathour.
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