The IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi on Wednesday will be rescheduled by the BCCI as CSK has been forced into hard quarantine after bowling coach L Balaji tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
As per the Board's Standard Operating Procedure, anyone who has come in contact with an infected person has to undergo six days of hard quarantine and return three negative RT-PCR reports during the course of it.
"Tomorrow's match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium between CSK and RR will be rescheduled as per SOP rules. As Balaji was in contact with the players, all of them have gone into hard quarantine. They are supposed to be tested every day," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
CSK, in a statement, said that bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji and a member of the support staff tested positive for COVID-19 in Delhi on 2nd May and have been isolated from the rest of the squad as per the IPL medical protocols and are in good spirits.
“They are being monitored by the BCCI and CSK medical teams. The Super Kings have extended all the support to the two and wish them a speedy recovery and a quick return to the squad. The rest of the Super Kings squad will remain in isolation as per IPL protocols,” the statement added.
Official Announcement!#WhistlePodu #Yellove pic.twitter.com/45mWyu8ySn
— Chennai Super Kings - Mask Pdu Whistle Pdu! (@ChennaiIPL) May 4, 2021
When CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan was contacted, he said that CSK had informed BCCI about Balaji's RT-PCR result.
"From our end, we had informed that Mr Balaji has tested positive and as per SOP our players have been isolated," Viswanathan said.
This is the second IPL match to be rescheduled after Monday's Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore game was postponed owing to a couple of KKR players -- Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier -- testing positive.
Delhi is hosting Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad clash on Tuesday evening.
With PTI inputs