Now India's junior physio tests positive, Ganguly unsure about fifth Test going ahead
Manchester/Kolkata, Sep 9: India cricket team's junior physio Yogesh Parmar has tested positive for COVID-19 and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is unsure whether the fifth and final Test against England, scheduled from Friday, will go ahead or not.
After head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun, another member of the support staff testing positive forced the team to cancel its practice session on Thursday.
"We don't know if match will happen at the moment. Hopefully we can get some game," said Ganguly at the book launch of 'Mission Domination' in Kolkata.
The RT-PCR test reports of the players are still awaited.
There is speculation that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has proposed that India forfeit the match in case the reports of the players come out positive. However, India have turned down the idea.
Parmar testing positive also leaves the team without a physio with the main physio Nitin Patel already in isolation after Shastri contracted the virus during the Oval Test.
It is learnt that the BCCI has asked England and Wales Cricket Board to spare a physio.
"The results of the RT-PCR tests (of players) are expected later in the day depending on which the fate of the game will be decided," said a BCCI source.
The players have been told to remain in their respective rooms as RT-PCR testing is being carried out.
Besides Shastri and Patel, fielding coach R Sridhar and Arun are also isolating in London.
Only batting coach Vikram Rathour was with the team when it won the fourth Test at the Oval on day five.
All the players and the support staff are fully vaccinated but both teams are not operating in strict bio-bubbles with life in UK almost back to normal.
Shastri is likely to have got the symptoms after attending the launch of his book in the team hotel where outside guests were also allowed.
Arun, Patel and Sridhar attended that function in person.
India lead the five-match series 2-1.
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Denying bidi proves fatal: Delhi man dies hours after repeatedly hit on head
New Delhi (PTI): Denied a bidi, a group of youths in west Delhi's Khyala area allegedly hit a man on the head repeatedly with a 'kada' (metal bangle) who died hours after receiving medical treatment, a police official said.
According to police, the 33-year-old man, Kanhaiya, was attacked late on Monday night.
He was approached by the group asking for a smoke, which he denied. Enraged, the accused hit the man on his head repeatedly with a 'kada' and injured him, a police official said.
Despite the wounds, the man visited the Guru Gobind Singh Hospital, where he received medical aid and was discharged with no medico-legal case registered, the official added.
However, his condition worsened hours later and was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him "brought dead" early on Tuesday morning.
Police received information about his death from the hospital and have initiated legal proceedings.
"A case has been registered and suspects rounded up for questioning. We are analysing CCTV footage and conducting local enquiries to establish the full sequence of events," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vichitra Veer said, adding a post-mortem will determine the exact cause of the death.
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