CHENNAI: It has emerged that a second player from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is among the 13 who have been infected with COVID-19 in the team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that there are 13 positive cases in the CSK camp while stating that a total of 1988 RT-PCR tests had been conducted across teams from August 20.
The two players who are infected are likely to miss the start of the tournament as the Chennai Super Kings have been placed under quarantine till September 6.
The development came soon after Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan revealed that their mainstay Suresh Raina has returned to India because of personal reasons. It is understood that the batsman took the decision keeping in mind his family, which includes a newborn.
Another CSK star Harbhajan Singh, who is currently in India attending to his ill mother, will land in Dubai on September 1 and be subjected to quarantine.
Though around 10 players had tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, the local regulations, which mandates two negative results before ruling out infections in the rest, meant the BCCI couldn't make the number public then. On Saturday morning, soon after the fresh batch of test results arrived, the BCCI confirmed the new number without naming the franchise.
"In total 1,988 RT-PCR Covid tests were carried out between August 20 to 28 across all participant groups in the UAE. These groups include players, support staff, team management, BCCI Staff, (the) IPL operational team, hotel and ground transport staff. 13 personnel have tested positive of which two are players," the BCCI said.
A CSK official revealed that those who are infected have been moved to a different hotel and will undergo a two-week-long quarantine, following which they will have to test negative for Covid-19 twice before being allowed to join the bio-secure bubble.
As things stand, the BCCI officials maintained that there won't be any changes in the tournament schedule since all safety measures are in place. Even the contacts of those who tested positive have also been kept under quarantine till September 6 and there will be tests every three days.
These developments have forced the Super Kings camp to keep the players engaged as they believe the next couple of weeks will be tricky. Though they have not sought any outside help, the coaching staff led by Stephen Fleming, Mike Hussey and Lakshmipathy Balaji are keeping the players engaged via zoom calls.
A franchise official said that interactive sessions are in place so that players don't feel lonely in their respective rooms. It is learnt that even food is being delivered to their rooms directly without any contact.
"We are very, very careful. To be frank, we had done nearly 200 tests before we came to Dubai. The ball boys, ground-staff, security guards, drivers at MA Chidambaram Stadium were all tested and even after coming here, the first three tests showed negative. This is something beyond us," a top franchise official told The New Indian Express.
The franchise official also confirmed that Super Kings will not ask BCCI to change its schedule because of the development.
Though the schedule is yet to be finalised, Chennai were supposed to play the opener against Mumbai Indians on September 19. But whether that will happen now is not clear as Chennai will start training only on September 7.
Meanwhile, the overseas players who are yet to join the Super Kings camp are unlikely to be allowed to mix with them.
Though there are fears that the development might make overseas players rethink about rejoining IPL, the BCCI officials said nobody has raised any concerns till date.