The Board of Control for Cricket in India is closely monitoring the situation after seven members of the England team, which played the limited overs series against Sri Lanka, have tested positive for0 Covid-19.
The Indian team is in England for a five-Test series, which will be preceded by an England-Pakistan One Day International series. The England and Wales Cricket Board was compelled to name an all-new squad for the Pakistan series.
Three players and four support staff members have been reported positive for the virus, 48 hours after the conclusion of their ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The Indian players are set to re-assemble in London on July 14 and proceed to Durham for a two-week training cum first-class game against Select County XI.
“We are aware of the situation. Obviously, ECB and the local health authorities will provide us with any change in existing health safety protocols and that will be strictly followed,” a senior BCCI official told PTI conditions of anonymity.
“But we haven’t been told anything as of now. The players have not yet been told to cut short their downtime,” he added.
Presently, most of the players are in and around London enjoying time off with their families and partners. A few are in countryside.
Once the players assemble in London, they are expected to be tested again and then allowed to enter the bio-bubble.
England have seen a rise in Delta-3 variant cases in the country.
“We’re in unprecedented territory in terms of replacing an entire squad and management team,” said Ashley Giles, director of England’s men’s cricket.
Not all players in the England first choice squad were fully vaccinated.
“We have been mindful that the emergence of the delta variant, along with our move away from the stringent enforcement of bio-secure environments, could increase the chances of an outbreak,” ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said.
“We made a strategic choice to try to adapt protocols, in order to support the overall wellbeing of our players and management staff who have spent much of the last 14 months living in very restricted conditions.”
