Durham: A day after the news of Rishabh Pant testing Covid-19 positive came to the fore, the Board of Control of Cricket in India President Sourav Ganguly reacted to the development. Defending Pant, Ganguly reckoned it is not possible to wear a mask all the time.
While interacting with News 18, Ganguly said that the rules have changed as fans are now being allowed to enter stadiums.
“We have seen Euro Championship and Wimbledon in England. Rules have changed (with crowd being allowed inside venues). They were on leave and it’s physically impossible to wear mask all the time,” Ganguly said.
Earlier, Pant was spotted at the Wembley Stadium recently with his friends. He had visited the iconic stadium to watch a EURO 2020 game.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had warned all players against attending Wimbledon and EURO 2020.
“Yes, one of the players has tested positive although he is largely asymptomatic currently. He is in quarantine at an acquaintance’s place and won’t be traveling with the team to Durham on Thursday,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Pant is a key member of the side and the management would hope he recovers in time for the first Test against England on August 4 at Trent Bridge.
Pant would miss the upcoming three-day warm-up game against County Championship at Durham starting July 20. It would be a setback for Pant as he would have wanted to get a look in ahead of the England Tests.
Reports suggest that with Pant and Wriddhiman Saha both in isolation, KL Rahul would have to keep wickets during the three-day warm-up game against Select County XI.