IND vs SL 2021: Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw will have to return 3 negative RT-PCR tests to fly to England - Reports
Team India batsmen Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw will have to return three negative RT-PCR tests to fly to England for the Test series.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday confirmed Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw as replacements for injured players in England. Just a day later, Team India all-rounder Krunal Pandya tested COVID-positive in Sri Lanka, raising doubts over Suryakumar and Shaw’s departure to England. The two Mumbai cricketers were among the close contacts of Krunal and are in isolation.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the BCCI is making arrangements to fly Shaw and Suryakumar to England so that they can join the Test squad over there. However, both will have to present three negative RT-PCR tests before departing for England.
The report further claimed that the eight Indian cricketers who have been placed in isolation had dined together a day before Krunal Pandya tested positive. BCCI’s medical team thus deemed these players as close contacts.
Apart from Krunal, Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw, the other Indian players who will be in isolation till Friday are - Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, K Gowtham and Ishan Kishan.
The second T20I between India and Sri Lanka had to be rescheduled to Wednesday after Krunal complained of a sore throat hours before the scheduled start of the match. On testing, he was found to be COVID-positive.
All the other members of the India team also took the RT-PCR tests and were tested negative for COVID-19. While Krunal will remain in Sri Lanka even after the series ends, as per COVID-19 protocols, the rest of the team is likely to head back home on a chartered fight after the final T20I on Thursday.
Suryakumar Yadav had an impressive series in Sri Lanka before isolation
30-year-old Suryakumar Yadav was in fine form in the matches in Sri Lanka before being forced into isolation after being identified as a close contact of Krunal. The Mumbai Indians batter was the player of the match in the ODI series for registering scores of 31 not out, 53 and 40.
He also scored a blazing half-century in the first T20I of the three-match series. According to a number of experts, selectors will find it tough to leave Suryakumar Yadav out of India’s T20 World Cup squad.
Shaw, on the other hand, registered two 40s in the one-day series before being dismissed for a golden duck on his T20I debut, in the first game of the three-match series.