India tour of England: After spending 17 days in quarantine, India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has returned two negative COVID-19 tests to be clear for India’s tour of England. The Sunrisers Hyderabad player tested positive for the virus on May 4 and was isolated before the IPL 2021 was suspended. He has returned home to Kolkata and will join the UK-bound team in Mumbai for the ICC WTC Final soon.
After Wriddhiman Saha tested positive, SRH’s game against Mumbai Indians on May 4 was postponed as the team too had to be in quarantine. While he slowly recovered since then, it was his second COVID-19 test at the end of the isolation period in Delhi that extended his stay. A player needs to return two negative COVID-19 tests to leave the isolation.
But Saha tested negative and then returned a positive result. Now that he has cleared that obstacle, he was reunited with his family in Kolkata for a short while as he will join India’s bio-bubble in Mumbai on May 24 along with other players based in Mumbai.
India tour of England: Wriddhiman Saha was picked for the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand that will be played in Southampton from June 18 provided he cleared the fitness test. He was also in the team for India’s five-match Test series for England as he is expected to serve as the backup wicketkeeper option.
“He has just recovered from Covid-19. Due to the presence of antibodies, he is at low risk of picking up a fresh infection,” someone with the knowledge of the matter told The Telegraph.
The rest of the squad will begin assembling in Mumbai on May 19 with the BCCI providing charter flights from Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. With KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are based out of Bangalore, they have been asked to drive to Chennai from where they will catch the flight to Mumbai. The other member of the India team from Karnataka, Prasidh Krishna is yet to test negative and is still in isolation at his Bengaluru home.