Devdutt Padikkal (Screengrab: Iplt20)
Devdutt Padikkal (Screengrab: Iplt20)

Devdutt Padikkal is the latest IPL player to have contracted the novel coronavirus. The RCB player tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. The RCB opener has been isolated from the rest of the squad and is in quarantine.

The positive test now makes him doubtful for the IPL opener against reigning champions Mumbai Indians.

Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Devdutt Padikkal Was RCB’s Highest Scorer In IPL 2020 And Had A Great Domestic Season In 2020-21

Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday confirmed that their opener Devdutt Padikkal had tested positive for COVID-19, revealing he is in mandatory quarantine at his home in Bangalore.

“Royal Challengers Bangalore, Left-handed Batsman Devdutt Padikkal had tested positive on 22nd March 2021. He has been in mandatory quarantine at his residence in Bengaluru since then.

“He will be fit to join the RCB bio-bubble once his RT-PCR tests are negative. RCB Medical team is in touch with Devdutt ensuring his safety and well-being. Devdutt is feeling well and we can’t wait to have him join the squad for the IPL season ahead,” the franchise said in a statement.

Axar Patel | Pankaj Nangia/ Sportzpics for BCCI
Axar Patel | Pankaj Nangia/ Sportzpics for BCCI

Devdutt Padikkal could miss up to two games for RCB. Missing Devdutt Padikkal, even for a short while, will be a big blow for RCB. He was their highest scorer last season. He has also been in tremendous form in the domestic circuit too becoming the first Indian to score 4 successive hundreds in List A cricket. He aggregated 737 runs (avg 147.40), finishing only behind Prithvi Shaw who scored record-breaking 827 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The Karnataka batsman scored 473 runs in 15 games averaging 31.53 with five fifties in IPL 2020. The 20-year-old uncapped batsman was one of just five players to play every game of his team’s IPL campaign.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is currently in crisis management after the Corona scare which saw one of the Delhi Capitals players–Axar Patel after KKR player Nitish Rana and ten ground staff at Wankhede testing positive for the Pandemic.

“It’s too late to move the matches from Mumbai now. The members of the organizing team have been in separate bubbles. The players are in a strict bubble. BCCI had Hyderabad as a backup but it’s very difficult to move it in a week,” the official told the newspaper.

Although it is understood that Indore and Hyderabad are on standby for hosting the opener, Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in all likelihood will get the game as planned. The Times of India has quoted a senior BCCI official saying ‘it’s too late to shift the match.’

Devdutt Padikkal Was 3rd Player After Axar Patel And Nitish Rana To Test Positive

Earlier in a huge blow to Delhi Capitals, spinner Axar Patel has tested positive for Coronavirus. Earlier Nitish Rana too was said to be Covid-19 positive but KKR later clarified that the cricketer was found negative later. The Indian Premier League begins on April 9 with Capitals playing their first game on the very next day on April 10.

Nitish Rana , AFP
Nitish Rana, AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders player Nitish Rana has clarified that he has tested negative for Covid-19. His statement comes after there were rumours that he has tested positive and was asked to undergo quarantine. His team came out with a statement soon.

“Nitish Rana had checked into the KKR team hotel in Mumbai, on March 21, 2021, with a negative COVID report which was done on March 19, 2021. As per IPL protocol, he was tested on March 22, during his quarantine and the report showed that he was positive.”

Rajeev Shukla, the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is confident that the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will go ahead “without any problem”, despite a rise in Covid-19 cases.