A Serious doubt about the continuation of the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) cropped up on Monday when two Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) testedpositive for Covid-19, resulting in the postponement of the KKR-RoyalChallengers Bangalore (RCB) match here while similar news emerged from theChennai Super Kings (CSK) camp and Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium.
A couple of CSK franchise members and three members ofthe ground staff at the Arun Jaitley Stadium have tested positive.
Delhi is scheduled to host successive matches on May 4(SunRisers Hyderabad-Mumbai Indians) and May 5 (Rajasthan Royals-CSK), butthese two matches -- and indeed the rest of the IPL -- are now in grave doubtof carrying on.
Incidentally, the 60-match IPL reached its halfway markon Monday, with the 30th match scheduled, between KKR and RCB, being postponed.
Although the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)confirmed the positive results of KKR's Varun Chakravarthy and SandeepWarrier, it did not specify when and where the rescheduled KKR-RCB would beplayed.
Delhi and Ahmedabad, among the IPL venues, are in tightgrip of the raging pandemic, with hundreds of people dying of the virus andthousands struggling in and outside hospitals for oxygen and medical aid. Butthe BCCI has so far insisted that the IPL would go on.
The KKR players, now in Delhi for their Tuesday's match,were locked up in their rooms and didn't go for practice on Monday, followingthe reports of positive tests from their camp. If their tests till Thursday(May 6) return negative results, they will be allowed to train on May 6 and 7.They will then be available for the May 8 match, provided that game takes placeat all.
The BCCI said that the medical team is also"determining the close and casual contacts of the two positive casesduring the 48 hours prior to collection of the sample that returned thepositive test results".
At the Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, everybody seemed ontenterhooks on Monday, the day the Delhi government sought Indian Army help tomeet the Covid situation that is virtually got out of its hands.
"Three members of the groundstaff in Delhi havetested positive. Also a couple of members of CSK, which is to play its matchesat the Arun Jaitley Stadium, are said to have tested positive," a sourcetold IANS.
While there was official confirmation on KKR playerstesting positive and postponement of Monday night's match, there was none onthe Delhi cases.
The DDCA has witnessed a few cases in recent times. Twoof its staff members died due to Covid recently. A couple of itsofficials/members have also been admitted to hospital undergoing treatment forCovid-19. "The situation is grave, no doubt," said DDCA official.
The limit on the number of guests has been reduced. Afranchise is allowed to bring in only 20 guests in this phase, said anotherofficial. "When the matches were being played in Chennai, the franchiseswere allowed to bring many more guests than 20," he said.
A DDCA official, however, denied that there have been anyfresh positive cases among ground staff.
"The tests were conducted after 2 pm on Monday. Thereport is yet to come. There are no reports of any positive cases among the groundstaff to our knowledge. However, we have heard that the CSK CEO KashiViswanathan and bowling coach L. Balaji have tested positive," he said.
Earlier on Monday, the BCCI admitted that the KKR camphas reported positive tests.
"Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were foundto be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days. All otherteam members have tested negative for COVID-19," it said.
Both players have isolated themselves from the rest ofthe squad. The venue -- the Narendra Modi Stadium -- is set to host two moregroup stage matches on Thursday and Saturday before hosting the playoffs andfinal from May 25 to 30 respectively.
"The medical team is in continuous touch with theduo and are monitoring their health. Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders havenow moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible casesand treat them at the earliest," said the BCCI.
The BCCI said that the medical team is also"determining the close and casual contacts of the two positive casesduring the 48 hours prior to collection of the sample that returned thepositive test results".
This is the first instance of players testing positivewithin the IPL bio-bubble this season.
The CSK, though, haven't confirmed the positive testsuntil now.
If it turns out to be true then it will be the secondtime the CSK will have to deal with the outbreak in their team bio-bubble.
At IPL 2020, in the UAE, Viswanathan's wife were among ofseveral members -- including players Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad -- whotested positive ahead of the tournament.
Before the 2021 IPL, some members of the ground staff atthe Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which hosted some of the matches of the firstphase had also tested positive.