The spectre of coronavirus continues to cast a shadow on the Indian Premier League with champions Mumbai Indians revealing that their scout and wicketkeeping consultant Kiran More has tested positive for Covid-19.
The franchise said on Tuesday that former India wicketkeeper More, 58, was currently not showing symptoms and has been isolated.
The team, led by Rohit Sharma, is camped in Chennai where they will open their campaign on Friday against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are captained by Virat Kohli.
"Mumbai Indians and Kiran More have followed all the BCCI health guidelines. The MI medical team will continue to monitor More's health and abide by the BCCI protocols," the team said in a Twitter post.
The news is bound to create more anxiety regarding the upcoming season. Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Devdutt Padikkal became the third player to test positive for coronavirus.
Bangalore said Padikkal returned a positive result on March 22 before he was due to join the squad, which is in a bio-secure bubble in Chennai.
"He has been in mandatory quarantine at his residence in Bengaluru since then," the team said in a statement.
"Devdutt will be fit to join the RCB bio-bubble once his RT-PCR tests are negative, as per IPL protocol."
Delhi Capitals spinner Axar Patel and Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Nitish Rana, however, tested positive for the virus after joining their teams.
IPL organisers are nervously watching a surge in coronavirus cases across India with daily cases at more than 90,000.
According to the Press Trust of India, two more members of the ground staff at the Wankhede Stadium tested positive for the virus, a day after the venue was cleared to host 10 IPL matches.
This after 10 ground-staff at the Wankhede had tested positive last week, although most are reported to have recovered.
On Monday, the Maharashtra government gave the tournament clearance to host matches in Mumbai despite weekend lockdowns and night curfew in the city, but the fear of the pandemic remains.
Cricketers outside the IPL sphere have also been affected by the virus. India batting great Sachin Tendulkar was admitted to hospital after contracting the coronavirus last week. Tendulkar was previously quarantining at home after testing positive, showing mild symptoms.
Later on, two more former India batsmen who took part in the Road Safety World Series – where Tendulkar had captained the India Legends team – tested positive.
Subramaniam Badrinath, who played for the victorious Indian team during the recently concluded veterans' T20 tournament in Raipur, revealed he had contracted the virus. World Cup winner Yusuf Pathan also announced his positive result. Pathan was the player of the match in the final against Sri Lanka as he scored a fifty and picked up two wickets on March 21.
