India head coach Ravi Shastri had tested positive for COVID-19 before the Oval test match on September 4 and has been in isolation since then. Shastri and a few of his close contacts could leave for India on September 15 if they test negative twice.
India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Shridhar were also asked to distance themselves from the team. They were in close contact with Shastri before his positive report.
As it turned out, the final test match was indefinitely postponed and all the Indian players travelled to UAE on Saturday for the second half of the IPL campaign. Shastri and his coaching staff were still serving their 10-day isolation period on Saturday.
The 10-day room isolation will end on Tuesday and arrangements have been made for the trio to travel back to India as long as they have two negative RT-PCR reports before leaving the UK.
“Ravi, Sridhar and Arun are all doing well physically and are mostly asymptomatic. They will take their RT-PCR test on Monday and if all goes well, they can fly out on the original date of departure, that is September 15. The final call will be taken by the medical team,”
a senior BCCI official said.
Shastri and his coaching team can pat themselves on the back for having a fruitful series in England. Focus will be shifted towards the IPL during the next month. This period will offer plenty of time for the coaching staff to draw out plans and tactics ahead of the upcoming T20I World Cup.
Despite India having been one of the favourites entering every ICC tournament recently, they haven’t tasted glory since the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. Whether this changes in the next few months or not, only time will tell.
