Chennai Super Kings bowler Deepak Chahar tested positive for COVID-19 after the side completed the mandatory 7-day quarantine. Chahar will only be allowed to join the camp after a mandatory 14-day quarantine and returning two negative tests 24 hours apart.He is quarantined outside the bio-secure zone to keep the others safe of the infection.
The Board of Cricket Control in India has assured that there is no threat to the IPL which is set to start on 19th September. Although the league is safe from the threats, BCCI has delayed the announcement of the schedule because of this development.CSK was the only franchise to go through a 5-day camp before flying to UAE. BCCI had expressed its concerns and also reached out the management to avoid the risk and cancel it.The CSK management did not pay much heed to the warning and went ahead with the camp in Chennai which is a major hotspot of the virus.
They believed that the players needed a headstart before they could go into quarantine in UAE.
CSK officials believe that this situation could happen to any team and it is just a matter of luck. They also mentioned that the contingent had tested negative before leaving India and the exposure at the airports might have caused this situation.Many players of the side hadn’t played cricket in a very long time such as the like of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. They wanted a quick session for them to be able to feel confident.
The franchise has over 30 players and most of them haven’t played international cricket for a while. The whole team is under quarantine and their training is delayed but the entire team remains on the same page. It is understood that the CSK management is not asking BCCI to postpone their matches, provided nobody else tests positive in the camp.
CSK and Mumbai Indians are supposed to play the first match of this season as last year’s finalists and the team from Chennai says they are ready to be on the ground.The players are not allowed to use the gymnasiums or step outside. They are training however possible in their rooms and are keeping in touch with the staff via Zoom calls. They are all preparing mentally for now and are hopeful to train soon considering nobody tests positive at the end of this quarantine.
