Head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach B. Arun and fielding coach R. Sridhar were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after returning positive RT-PCR tests on Monday. Physiotherapist Nitin Patel tested negative.
All four support staff members had been in isolation after Shastri’s lateral flow test had returned positive on Saturday — the other three were deemed close contacts of the head coach.
The development has put the last Test of the series, scheduled to start in Manchester on Friday, in slight doubt, with both the ECB and BCCI, as well as the team managements, treading cautiously.
Sportstar has learnt that with the three coaches starting to develop mild symptoms, all of India’s squad members underwent a lateral flow test and the RT-PCR test before the start of the last day’s play at the Oval. Just like on day 4, India was allowed to take the field on Monday only after everyone cleared the lateral flow test.
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The India camp fears that the number of those infected could increase in the coming days — especially given that at least one of the coaching staff members had used the recovery table in the dressing room on the third day before it was used by the players.
All four isolated members, including Patel, will have to quarantine for at least 10 days, according to the health protocols in England. It will mean that even if the decider starts as scheduled on Friday, none of them will be able to participate in it.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara were off the field after undergoing scans on the “left knee” and “left ankle”, respectively, according to the team management.
