Ravi Shastri reported to be in isolation after positive lateral flow test

The India camp has suffered from a COVID-19 scare, with four members of their backroom staff including head coach Ravi Shastri returning positive lateral flow tests, according to reports from ESPNcricinfo. Shastri will isolate in the team hotel, along with bowling coach Bharat Arun, physiotherapist Nitin Patel and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar.

The positive tests were made public in a BCCI statement just half an hour before the start of play on day four at the Oval. The statement made known that the rest of India’s travelling contingent had undergone two separate lateral flow tests, one on Saturday evening and another on Sunday morning, with two negative results permitting their continued involvement at the ground.

Shastri is a big personality to lose in the Indian dressing room, particularly before a day as meaningful in the series as the penultimate one of the fourth Test, the series poised at 1-1. India are in the driving seat beginning on 270-3 with a lead stretching over 170. England will be looking for early scalps on a pitch set to dry out as the London sun emerges.