Rishabh Pant, who is part of India’s 23-member squad in the ongoing tour of England has tested positive for Covid-19. Pant has been kept in isolation, and will not travel with the team on 15 July for the camp in a Durham bio-bubble. He has been afflicted by the Delta variant.
BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla confirmed the development to PTI: ‘Yes, one of the players has tested positive but he has been in isolation for the last eight days. He was not staying in any hotel with the team, so no other player has been affected. As of now, no other player has tested positive.’
BCCI secretary Jay Shah sent an email to the Indian contingent in the UK to warn about the rising cases of Covid-19. In his letter, Shah told them to ‘avoid’ crowded places as the Covishield vaccine does not give full immunity against the virus.
The Indian players, who arrived in England in early June, had played the World Test Championship last month. Since then, they were on a three-week break. During this period, they visited major sporting events like Wimbledon and Euro 2020 in London.
Pant attended a Euro 2020 football match last month and had posted pictures on his social media accounts.
The five-match Test series between England and India will get underway on 4 August, at Trent Bridge.