Two KKR players positive as IPL bubble breaks, DC too told to be in quarantine
The positives of two Kolkata Knight Riders players forced the rescheduling of Monday’s contest between KKR and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Ahmedabad
The Indian Premier League at its halfway mark was dealt a double jolt on Monday with its bio-secure bubbles in Ahmedabad and New Delhi, both currently staging matches, recording five Covid-19 positive cases.
The positives of two Kolkata Knight Riders players forced the rescheduling of Monday’s contest between KKR and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Ahmedabad. Three non-playing members of Chennai Super Kings in Delhi too tested positive—bowling coach L Balaji is one of them—in Sunday’s tests. They remain in isolation and underwent repeat RT PCR tests on Monday.
An IPL statement said KKR bowlers Varun Chakravarthy and Sandip Warrier tested positive in Ahmedabad and are isolating from the rest of the squad. There were also reports that some groundsmen in New Delhi are down with Covid. The Delhi association president, Rohan Jaitley, said he had no information of anyone “on duty” falling ill.
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At the time of going to press, calling off the two matches in Delhi on May 4 and 5, Mumbai Indians-Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals-CSK, was also being considered. A final decision and revised schedule are expected on Tuesday. Mumbai Indians played CSK in Delhi on May 1 and Balaji was in his team dugout.
IPL had continued amid Covid concerns. Delhi Capitals’ Ravichandran Ashwin (four other players too left IPL) and umpire Nitin Menon left the T20 league after positive tests in their family. The fresh cases raise more questions about IPL 2021, taking place across six cities while India grapples with a devastating second wave of the pandemic.
Bubble burst
The IPL statement said: “KKR have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases and treat them at the earliest.” The medical team is also tracing close contacts of the two KKR players from 48 hours before the sample collection.
Other franchises though are concerned as positive cases have come inside the bio-bubble. IPL games will move from Ahmedabad and New Delhi with Bengaluru and Kolkata to stage games from May 9.
Delhi Capitals’ Axar Patel and RCB’s Devdutt Padikkal had tested positive before the tournament.
“Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were found to be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days. All other team members have tested negative for COVID-19,” the IPL statement said.
Spinner Chakravarthy, it is learnt, visited an Ahmedabad hospital for a scan on his shoulder. As per IPL protocol, a green corridor is created for a player when there is need for emergent medical attention, which would allow him to return to the team bubble after treatment. KKR though had a practice session on Sunday at the Gujarat College ground.
“We found out approximately 24 hours ago about Varun testing positive, so the immediate steps we took was to isolate him, and then later on in the night when we got test results which also involved Sandeep, we put them on a different floor with a different Air Conditioning ducts system to make sure others are appropriately protected,” Venky Mysore, KKR CEO, said in a statement.
“The whole idea right now is that it will take perhaps five days, and we are a little fortunate that we have a bit of a break right now because our next game is on the 8th of May (vs Delhi Capitals). So five days of quarantining starting yesterday would take us through the 6th of May.”
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Franchises concerned
Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals are also in Ahmedabad, besides RCB and KKR. Two more league matches are scheduled there on Thursday and Saturday. KKR are due to play Delhi Capitals at the weekend. Capitals have been asked to be quarantined in their hotel rooms as a precaution against a late positive, having played against KKR on April 29. Their next game is also in Ahmedabad on May 8, against KKR.
“The question is how did somebody contract Covid even with so much precaution,” Satish Menon, Punjab Kings CEO, said over the phone. “If it had happened in Delhi then it could have been understood as there are so many cases happening in that city. But in Ahmedabad, it does raise concern. We are now conducting RT-PCR tests every alternate day.”
Menon, whose team next plays RCB on Thursday, added they have not been informed about any other schedule change. “There are rest days between matches. They can even hold double headers, so I don’t think scheduling the postponed match will be an issue.”
An IPL official, who did not wish to be identified, said: “Minor tweaks like adding double headers are fine, but any venue change becomes very difficult now. Teams have done their recce at different hotels for a strong bio-bubble and any last-minute change requires redoing the whole exercise. The timelines are very tight.”
Chennai’s case
In the CSK camp, bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji and a transport personnel have returned positive tests. “As a precautionary measure, our practice session on Monday was cancelled, the hotel sanitised and everyone in the bubble asked to stay in the rooms,” a CSK team member said.
An IPL official said: “daily tests are being conducted and one has to respect the sanctity of the process.”
DDCA president Jaitley said the association was testing its staff regularly. On reports that DDCA groundsmen have tested positive, he said: “I can confirm no groundsman on duty has reported ill. We have a set of 18 groundsmen on duty while there are about 10 to 12 more on back up. We also rotate them. Like the groundsmen who worked in the first three games in Delhi will not be in action for the next three matches.”
“Blood on your hands”
Ashwin is the only Indian player to pull out of IPL. Three Australians— Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson—cut short their campaign and returned home. England’s Liam Livingstone (RR) too quit after complaining of bubble fatigue.
Reports in the Australian media suggested more players from that country are exploring ways to leave the competition. The Australian government has banned commercial flights with India till May 15 due to the surge in Covid cases.
Former Australia batsman Michael Slater, part of the IPL commentary team, tweeted criticising his country's prime minister Scott Morrison for not allowing Australian citizens to return from India. Starting Monday, the Australian government has banned anyone who had been to India in the previous 14 days from entering the country. Those flouting the directive have been threatened with a heavy fine and/or jail term.
The Australian government has said Australian players in IPL will have to make their own arrangements to return. It leaves players who want to leave with no option but to play on unless they decide to park themselves temporarily in another country.
“If our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It's a disgrace!! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out quarantine system. I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect,” Slater tweeted.
Slater also left the IPL bio-bubble. "And for those who think this is a money exercise. Well forget it. This is what I do for a living and I have not made a penny having left early. So please stop the abuse and think of the thousands dying in India each day. It's called empathy. If only our government had some!" he tweeted.
