Mumbai: Despite all the necessary safety measures taken to keep the teams in a secure bio-bubble, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) have been hit by Covid-19.
The sudden Covid wave now forced the team to postpone their plans to travel to Pune for their next game against Punjab Kings (PBKS), which is scheduled on Wednesday (April 20). The players have been asked to quarantine in their rooms and there will be door-to-door tests scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals team physio Patrick Farhart contracted the virus and he subsequently underwent isolation. On this occasion. Now as per latest reports, another player and a support staff has tested positive based on the Rapid Antigen Test and will further undergo the RT-PCR Test to confirm the result.
“DC were supposed to travel to Pune today but the entire squad members have been told to retire to their respective rooms and as per protocol RT PCR is being done to ascertain whether there is an outbreak in the camp or it is an isolated case like Patrick Farhart,” a BCCI source told PTI on Monday.
The BCCI had previously decided to allow 50 per cent of the crowd capacity to enter the stadiums to watch the matches. To limit the threat of Covid, the BCCI also decided to stage the entire IPL 2022 within the state of Maharashtra. However, despite the best effort of the BCCI, the threat of Covid has finally hit IPL 2022.
“All teams are staying at Conrad Hotel in Pune where BCCI has created a bio-bubble. They were supposed to travel but now it has been delayed. Obviously all those whose results would be negative would carry on with onward journey tomorrow,” the source added.
It must be noted that IPL 2021 was postponed midway through last year amid the sudden COVID-19 crisis and was later shifted to UAE. Hence, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would like to avoid any such mishap this time around. At the moment, 25 per cent crowd is allowed in the stadium, with India ticking close to 2000 Covid cases on a daily basis.
