IPL 2021: T Natarajan tests positive for Covid-19, goes into isolation with 6 others

Sunrisers Hyderabad left-arm seamer T Natarajan has tested positive for Covid-19 at a scheduled RT-PCR test in Dubai, and has isolated himself from the rest of the squad. Six other members of the franchise, who were identified as his close contacts, are also in isolation.

The update, however, will not affect Sunrisers’ IPL 2021 match against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday evening in Dubai, the IPL said in a statement.SRH are scheduled to play the tournament’s 34th match against Delhi Capitals today in Dubai from 7:30 PM onwards. The match will go ahead as planned, as the rest of the SRH team has tested negative for the virus.

In a media statement issued less than five hours before the start of the match, the IPL said that Natarajan is asymptomatic at the moment. Two of the six others who have been forced to go into isolation are players: allrounder Vijay Shankar and net bowler Periyasamy Ganesan. The others are members of the Sunrisers support staff: Vijay Kumar (team manager), Shyam Sundar J (physiotherapist), Anjana Vannan (doctor) and Tushar Khedkar (logistics manager).

The entire Sunrisers contingent, including the close contacts, underwent RT-PCR tests at 5am local time on Wednesday and the test reports have come out negative, the statement said. As a result, the Sunrisers vs Capitals game has been allowed to go ahead on schedule at the Dubai International Stadium.

The IPL had to be brought to an abrupt halt earlier in May because of a spate of Covid cases in the tournament India in the backdrop of deadly second wave of virus that had wreaked havoc in the country in the country. The BCCI managed to move the tournament to the UAE but three matches into resumption, and in an altogether different and stricter environment, the virus has still managed to breach the bio-secure bubbles.

SRH likely playing XI vs DC: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar(will be replaced), Abdul Samad, Jason Holder/Mohamad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed