Indian men’s cricket
team’s head coach Ravi Shastri has tested positive for
COVID and as a result, three other support staff members have been put under
isolation for precautionary measure, Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI)
said in a statement.

“The
BCCI Medical Team has isolated Ravi Shastri, Head Coach, B. Arun, Bowling
Coach, R. Sridhar, Fielding Coach and Nitin Patel, Physiotherapist as
a precautionary measure after Shastri’s lateral flow test returned positive
last evening. They have undergone RT-PCR testing and shall remain in the team
hotel and not travel with Team India until confirmation from the medical
team,” BCCI honorary secretary Jay Shah said in the statement.

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The
other members of Team India contingent underwent two Lateral Flow Tests – one
last night and another this morning. Those whose results came out negative were
allowed to proceed for Day 4 of the ongoing fourth Test at
The Oval.

According
to reports, Shastri may have got the symptoms after attending a book launch event
in the team hotel where outside guests were also allowed. Arun, Patil and
Sridhar also attended the event. 

“Since
there are no restrictions in the UK, outside guests were allowed during
Shastri’s book launch party. You feel for Bharath Arun. This is the second
time, that he has to be isolated because someone else has tested positive. Last
time it was Dayanand Garani, the masseur,” a BCCI source told PTI. 

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Team
India is set to travel to Manchester on Tuesday and if these four are found
positive in RT-PCR tests, they will have to undergo 10-day room isolation and
test negative twice in order to rejoin the contingent.

The
lateral flow tests are not considered particularly reliable and RT-PCR tests
are conducted to confirm the results. The Indian contingent has been carrying
out lateral flow tests every single day since Rishabh Pant tested positive for
COVID during the three-week break. The results of the lateral flow tests can be
known in 30 minutes.