Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is under huge scanner after their players Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad and another couple of staff members have been tested positive for the infectious disease, coronavirus. On Saturday, the franchise informed that their star player Suresh Raina has also opted out of the IPL 2020, citing personal reasons. But speculations are there whether Raina’s decision to return to India has anything to do with the spread of the infectious virus in CSK camp.
Amid all the reports, CSK’s five-day training camp in Chennai before landing in the UAE has come under scrutiny. Many are of the view that the franchise has come under the contact of the unprecedented virus during their camp in India. As per PTI report, a BCCI official had also questioned CSK management on whether it was important to host training camp.
“CSK practiced three days in Chennai out of the five days. Was there any tangible gain achieved from that camp?” a BCCI official told PTI.
The Indian cricketer Deepak Chahar, who had also attended the training camp, tested positive of the virus after landing in the UAE. He is under an extended quarantine period. The source stated that one of the senior-most officials of the CSK management, an official’s wife, and at least two members of their social media team was also COVID-19 positive. There are a couple of net bowlers who have also tested positive.
“Yes, a right-arm medium-fast bowler, who has recently played for India in white-ball cricket, along with a few staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. The number could be as high as 12,” the senior IPL source said on conditions of anonymity.
“As far as we know, one of the senior-most officials of the CSK management, an official’s wife, and at least two members of their social media team is also Covid-19 positive. There are a couple of net bowlers who have also tested positive,” he said.
Notably, the training camp is under surveillance because CSK players have not gone under mandatory quarantine period before starting practice session in Chennai.
“If you see, they all had tested negative for COVID during the two RT-PCR tests conducted in Chennai ahead of their departure. Had they been positive, they wouldn’t have been able to board the flight in the first place,” the league source stated.
CSK training camp in the UAE postponed further:
According to the BCCI’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), all those who test positive are set to go through an additional 14-day quarantine.
And after testing negative twice for the virus, they will be allowed to join the bio-secure bubble. So, following all the procedures, CSK’s training camp is expected to start from the first week of September, as per the source.
“I don’t think they can start the camp from September 1. It will take at least till September 5 before they can even think of resuming the camp,” he said.
Meanwhile, cloud looms large over IPL 2020 if more players results turned out to be positive. But it is understood that for the time being, there is no imminent threat to the league. However, it has delayed the announcement of the schedule of the tournament set to start from 19th September.