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The BCCI has announced that the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka, which was to be played on Tuesday, will now be conducted a day later, i.e. – on Wednesday, after all-rounder Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19. This means that the second and third T20Is will now be played back-to-back on July 28 and 29 respectively.
“The second T20I between Sri Lanka and India originally scheduled to be played on July 27 has been pushed forward by a day and will now take place on Wednesday, July 28,” the BCCI said in an official statement.
Krunal and eight more close contacts of the players are currently in isolation. The positive case was reported on Tuesday morning after the latest round of testing of the Indian players. It is understood that as of now, no cases of positive report have emerged from the Sri Lankan camp, which will next be getting tested Wednesday.
“Following the Rapid Antigen Tests conducted ahead of the match on Tuesday morning, Team India all-rounder Krunal Pandya was found to be positive. The Medical Teams have identified eight members as close contacts. The entire contingent is undergoing RT-PCR tests today to ascertain any further outbreak in the squad,” the statement further added.
This is the second instance of Covid impacting the India vs Sri Lanka series. The series which was scheduled to begin on July 13, was pushed back by five days after batting coach Grant Flower and a video analyst had returned positive results. This is also the second case of an Indian cricketer testing positive for Covid in a month, with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant being the first in England on July 15.
Although the series is not at risk yet to be terminated, the breakout of Covid in the Indian camp is expected to affect the return of the Indian cricket team, which was originally supposed to come back Thursday. The development is set to have an impact on Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw’s departure to England for the Test series, which was lined up for after the end of the T20I series, which India currently lead 1-0, having already wrapped up the ODI leg 2-1.
