Indian Cricket Team in England Hit Hard by Coronavirus

At a time when bio-security bubbles for cricket teams are falling apart with plenty of cricketers and the coaching staff catching the coronavirus despite all the security measures in place, it seems as if it is really impossible for players and the support staff to remain safe in whichever part of the world they are in. 

The England cricket team were forced to play a completely new squad when seven of their team members comprising three players and four coaching staff members were found to be coronavirus positive in the ODI series against Pakistan a few days ago. Even the Sri Lankan team, which reached home after a dreaded tour of England, was rattled when two of their coaching staff members were found positive before they could hit the field to take on India. 

In such uncertain times, where the only safety measures are to stay inside homes and hotel rooms, the Indian cricket team contingent in the UK dispersed for a three-week break between the start of their preparations for the Test series against England and the conclusion of the Cricket World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

Background

This is the first time ever that India have sent to different cricket teams  for two different series overseas. The contingent led by Virat Kohli and with Ravi Shastri as the head coach — the original Indian squad — is in England for the twin assignments of playing the Cricket WTC final and the five-match Test series against the home team, starting early August. 

There is another Indian squad sent out to Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series, consisting six matches in total comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is. 

This tour was set to start on July 13, but with Sri Lanka batting coach Grant Flower and their team analyst GT Niroshan revealed to be coronavirus positive, the home cricket board was forced to postpone the series twice. The first postponement had the India-Sri Lanka series starting on July 17, which was further moved by a day to have the eventual start of the series on July 18. The two teams will first be playing the three ODIs, followed by the T20 international fixtures.

For those uninitiated, Sri Lankan cricket board had kept two other squads in bio-bubble quarantine at two separate locations in Dambulla and Colombo, in order to meet any last moment requirement of change in personnel owing to the risk that is there during the coronavirus pandemic. 

What is happening with the Indian team in Sri Lanka?

While the Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka arrived in the country well in advance for the six-match series, they have been largely confined to the hotel rooms and within the vicinity in Colombo in order to be safe from the risk of the pandemic that is there. It is only recently that the Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka has started training under lights, away from the hotel as a series comes closer to start after plenty of hiccups. 

Shikhar Dhawan will be leading this Indian side replete with tremendous young talent from the stable of the Indian Premier League (Indian T20) as well the robust Indian domestic circuit. 

What are Indian cricketers up to in England?

It was only on Thursday, July 15, that Indian cricket team in England had its members assemble in London and leave for Durham, where they will be playing a three-day tour match against Select County XI starting on July 20. However, the Indian team, which requested for a tour match in the wake of a chastening defeat to the Kiwis in the Cricket WTC final, will be without some of its key members in this tour match. 

India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is under a mandatory 10-day quarantine as per UK government directives, since he was revealed to have been infected by coronavirus. 

Apart from Pant, the team’s net bowler and support staff member Dayanand Garani was also revealed to have been infected by the virus, which forced the others in his close vicinity — bowling coach Bharat Arun, Bengal captain and team’s backup opening batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran and wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha to enter 10-day quarantine as well. 

The others such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane are presently spending time with their respective families within the UK. Ravichandran Ashwin was also spending time with his family and exploring the country but he got an opportunity to prepare better for the England tour by playing a County match for Sussex against Somerset — a game in which he signalled his form, taking six wickets in the second innings.

The Indian team will be playing the tour match with the five-Test series in mind — a challenge in which they have a lot to prove. India have lost all of their series in England since the start of 2010, their batsmen have struggled against swinging and seaming deliveries while their bowlers have not been able to create a similar kind of impact which the host team bowlers tend to. 

India will also have to be aware of the fact that England will be eyeing revenge, having drubbed them in the four-match Test series earlier in the year in India. England batsmen found it extremely tough batting on dry and turning surfaces, despite starting strong in Chennai with a remarkable victory. England lost the series to India 3-1, and they will be keen to exploit the shortcomings of the Kohli side against the moving ball. 

What about Rishabh Pant? 

The case of Pant is not as curious as it may seem to be. It was just a clear case of not following protocols, or rather, venturing out in public when it is not safe to do so. The dashing Indian wicketkeeper-batsman was pictured watching the Euro 2020 Round of 16 match between England and Germany, around the same time the Indian head coach Ravi Shastri posted a photo on his social media pages, sitting in the front row of the men’s Wimbledon final.

Pant will have to undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine which means he will not be playing the only tour match, and in his place, KL Rahul, the player who has been banished from the Indian team but richly deserves to be in the playing XI across formats, will get a chance.

The four other members of the Indian team who have been found coronavirus positive are reported to have recovered and returned negative tests ahead of the team’s assignment in Durham.