In a fresh blow to the touring Indian side in England, their physiotherapist on the ongoing tour, Yogesh Parmar has tested positive for Covid-19 in Manchester, as per an ESPNcricinfo report.
As a result, India’s practice sessions scheduled a day before the start of the fifth Test at Old Trafford have been cancelled and the remaining members of the squad have been mandated to stay back in the hotel.
The report further suggests that the latest emergence of the case came from the round of tests conducted on Wednesday, September 08 night after the Indian team participated in net sessions to prepare for the final game. All the members of the squad have also undergone Vovid-19 testing on Thursday morning the result of which is due for today.
Only the batting coach Vikram Rathour remained with the side after other members of the coaching group such as their head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar contracted Covid in London. All of them tested positive in lateral flow tests and while Shastri and Arun’s infections were confirmed by RT-PCR Tests, Sridhar returned negative results in the final round of Tests.
India played the last two days of the Oval Test without their batting, fielding and bowling coach and the batting coach Rathour had suggested that the team had got distracted for some moment. However, they were on track for a fantastic win on the final day to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
India will be hopeful of the availability of all players for the all-important final game of the series that will dictate if they will be able to win the first series in England since 2007.