Ravi Shastri Defends his Book Launching Event Causing COVID Outbreak

On the eve of the fifth Test at Old Trafford, assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive, which set a scare of outbreak in Indian camp. It eventually resulted in the fifth and final Test of the five-match series between India and England getting cancelled on Friday.

London, Sep 12: Team India Head Coach has defended his book launching event- ‘Star Gazing: The Players in My Life’, which took place on September 1 in London and rubbished criticisms of all means that the very event resulted in multiple COVID cases in the Indian team camp, including him. The former India International himself was the first to test positive for the virus, followed by bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and physios Nitin Patel and Yogesh Parmar.

“The whole country [United Kingdom] is open. Anything could have happened from Test One,” Shastri said in an interview on Sunday.

On the eve of the fifth Test at Old Trafford, assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive, which set a scare of outbreak in Indian camp. It eventually resulted in the fifth and final Test of the five-match series between India and England getting cancelled on Friday.

India were leading the series 2-1 before the cancellation of the Manchester Test. Instead of talking about the fifth Test being called off, Shastri chose to focus on the performances of the Indian team in the series.

“It’s been the best summer of cricket England has seen in a long time certainly from an Indian cricket team. It’s Covid times, awesome summer though. The boys were fantastic either side of the Thames,” observed Shastri.

“No team played in Covid times like this Indian team did in Australia and England. Just ask the experts here. Nothing has given me more job satisfaction in the game and I have been around for a bit as you would know,” added Shastri.

Shastri’s next assignment with the Indian team will be the men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE from October 17-Novermber 14.

(With IANS inputs)