Shikhar Dhawan Set to Miss Remainder of Series After Being Termed Close Contact With Krunal Pandya: Report

Since the close contacts are mostly players, India might have to field a depleted side.

New Delhi: Team India suffered another massive blow ahead of the second T20I as it has been reported that stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan joined the list of players who were in close contact with COVID-19 positive Krunal Pandya. On Tuesday, the BCCI has announced that Krunal has been tested positive for the novel virus and was ruled out of the series. It further said that the medical team identified eight members as close contacts with Krunal.

The second T20I which was scheduled to play on Tuesday will now be held on Wednesday.

According to a report on Sports Tak, the list of players include Dhawan’s name as it is expected that Bhuvneshwar Kumar might lead the team in his absence. The report also named the other players in the close contacts are – Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Ishan Kishan and Krishnappa Gowtham.

Meanwhile, BCCI has already said that the eight players have tested negative for COVID-19 but they won’t take part in the remaining matches of the series due to precautionary measures set in place. The players are expected to be tested once again today.

Since the close contacts are mostly players, India might have to field a depleted side.

As per Sri Lanka’s health safety protocols, Krunal will not be able to travel back to India with other members of the contingent on July 30 as he will now have to undergo mandatory isolation and obtain a negative RT-PCR report.

The third and final T20 is scheduled to be held on Thursday.

“Krunal is symptomatic with cough and throat pain. He is obviously out of the series and will not be able able to return with rest of the squad,” a BCCI source tracking the developments in Colombo told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“However the good news is that all his eight close contacts who were identified by the BCCI medical officer (Dr Abhijit Salvi) have tested negative. But as a precautionary measure can’t take the field,” the source added.