11 back in CSK bio-bubble after testing COVID negative, Ruturaj Gaikwad to undergo two more tests

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who tested positive for COVID-19 last month, will undergo two fresh tests starting Sunday and could miss the first few games of the IPL.

Young Chennai Super Kings batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, who tested positive for COVID-19 last month, will undergo two fresh tests starting Sunday and could miss the first few games of the IPL.

Thirteen members of the CSK contingent tested positive for the virus and two of them were players — Gaekwad and Deepak Chahar. Chahar, along with 11 others, has recovered and resumed training after clearing his mandatory two tests.

“Ruturaj will undergo two tests as per protocol, today and tomorrow. If he tests negative, he will be back in team hotel bubble. The other staff members have tested negative and are now back to normal. They are back in team bubble,” CSK CEO KS Viswanthan told PTI on Sunday.

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Gaekwad, an India A regular who tested positive a few days after Chahar, is being touted as the one to replace Suresh Raina but CSK might have to wait a bit as he undergoes COVID tests on Sunday and Monday. Raina pulled out of the IPL due to personal reasons.

For Gaekwad, CSK will follow the established protocol and he will also have to undergo cardiovascular and lung function tests to ascertain his fitness if he clears the coronavirus tests.

He is likely to be available for selection only after a week, which means he might have to sit out of at least the tournament-opener on September 19 against Mumbai Indians and a few more matches after that.

Aus players will have 6-day quarantine upon arrival from UK

Australian cricketers like Steve Smith and David Warner will have to remain in isolation for six days after arrival in the UAE for the IPL despite having spent time at bio-secure bubble in the UK, according to Chennai Super Kings bowling consultant Eric Simons.

Smith (Rajasthan Royals), Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Australia team-mate Josh Hazlewood (CSK) will head straight to the UAE from the UK after the third and final ODI against England on Wednesday. They have been in a bio-secure bubble throughout the limited-overs series in England.

But Simons said there will be no leniency and the Australians in all likelihood will have to serve a minimum of six days in quarantine before integrating with their squads. “We are hearing – although it’s not confirmed yet – that they will also have to self-isolate in their rooms for six days and produce negative tests on the first, third and sixth days before they can join us,” Simons wrote in his column for ‘Manners on Cricket’ website.

“We had hoped that they could all move from their current bio-secure bubbles into ours but it seems likely that there will be no ‘leniency’, which is understandable. Apart from our brilliant Indian players, led by the ageless MS Dhoni, we do have Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi in full training so there’s no shortage of talent.”

The Australian cricketers are expected to arrive in the UAE on September 17, just two days before the start of the 13th edition of the world’s richest T20 tournament in Abu Dhabi.

Simons also said that the CSK players have to wear a smart health tracking device whenever they step out of hotel rooms.

“We were issued with tracking devices to be worn around our necks whenever we left our hotel rooms but our physiotherapist has been very creative in turning them into ‘watches’ so at least that doesn’t feel restrictive,” said the former South African coach.

Since their arrival in the UAE, CSK has been hit hard by COVID-19 with the team reporting as many as 13 positive cases, including two players.