The second T20I between hosts Sri Lanka and India, scheduled to be played on Tuesday, July 27, has been postponed due to a confirmed COVID-19 case in the Indian camp. The match will now be held on Wednesday, July 28, with the third and final game slated for Friday. The infected player is said to be all-rounder Krunal Pandya, as per a report in ESPNCricinfo.
The report added that the positive result emerged on Tuesday morning, following the latest round of tests for the Indian touring party conducted on Monday. It came to the publication’s notice that the positive result surfaced after the lateral flow test, which the team has to carry out on a regular basis.
NEWS : Krunal Pandya tests positive.
Second Sri Lanka-India T20I postponed to July 28.
The entire contingent is undergoing RT-PCR tests today to ascertain any further outbreak in the squad.#SLvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 27, 2021
The series was earlier put in grave danger when Sri Lanka’s batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst G T Niroshan tested positive for the dreaded virus ahead of the series opener, getting exposed on their return trip from the UK. As a result, the commencement of the limited-overs assignment had to be pushed back by five days, with the series finally kicking off on July 18 instead of July 13. It also meant an extended quarantine period for the squad members.
India’s Test contingent in England too faced COVID setbacks, with wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant linking up with the squad late in Durham after returning a positive test and isolating at an acquaintance’s place in London. Bowling coach Bharat Arun, Wriddhiman Saha and Abhimanyu Easwaran also had to endure ten days of isolation after being deemed close contacts of training assistant Dayananda Garani, who had caught the virus as well.
