Anrich Nortje, a South African pacer for the Delhi Capitals, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, dealing a major blow to the club and the Indian Premier League.
Nortje isn’t the first cricketer this season to test positive for the deadly virus. Several players at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium were also affected, in addition to the ground staff and event managers.
Nortje is the second DC player to test positive, after all-rounder Axar Patel on April 3, just six days before the tournament’s new edition began. Nortje, who arrived in India with fellow paceman Kagiso Rabada, is currently asymptomatic, with the findings of a second test expected later on Wednesday.
“He came in with a negative diagnosis, but has sadly tested positive now whilst undergoing quarantine,” a source familiar with the situation told ANI. According to the BCCI SOP, if a player or support staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they must isolate for a period of 10 days outside of the bio-secure setting, beginning on the first day of symptoms or the date of collection of the sample that resulted in a positive RT-PCR record, whichever comes first.
He had tested negative when he arrived in India and appeared to catch the virus while in quarantine.
Devdutt Padikkal and Daniel Sams of Royal Challengers Bangalore, as well as Mumbai Indians wicket-keeping consultant and talent scout Kiran More, had tested positive.
The BCCI has opted to test everybody in the IPL bio-bubble on a regular basis instead of every third day, as was the case last year, due to the latest COVID-19 rise in India. Ground staff and curators now have their own bio-bubble.