After Rishabh Pant, one member of India’s support staff tests positive for Covid-19

A senior coach and two players have been identified as close contacts, and asked to quarantine in London for ten days

The latest round of tests – on July 15 – followed those on July 10 and July 14, and while Pant is understood to have tested positive on July 10, it isn’t clear whether he was in close contact with anyone else in the squad at the time. As things stand, Pant, if he did indeed test positive on July 10, has to isolate until July 20 and then clear the mandatory test before reintegrating with the squad.

The same rule applies for the four others who are currently in quarantine.

It is understood that not all members of the Indian squad were aware of Pant testing positive. Even BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who sent an email to all members of the Indian contingent on July 13 asking them to exercise all possible Covid-19 precautions, did not mention Pant’s positive result in that note, seen by ESPNcricinfo. In it, Shah stressed that while the Indian contingent had received the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine recently, that did not “guarantee total immunity or resistance against the dreaded virus”.

Shah pointed out that the new Covid-19 variant had been “spreading rapidly”, and “we are not out of danger zone” yet. Citing the two bilateral series that were affected recently – the England vs Pakistan series and the Sri Lanka vs India series – because of the rising numbers, Shah wrote, “It is advisable the places of mass congregation, crowded shopping malls/stores and eateries and watering holes be avoided by you in the best interest of everyone.”