In a highly unfortunate turn of events, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the 3-time IPL champions have garnered unwanted limelight after more than 10 of its members including players tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday and Saturday.
In a big blow to the entire IPL 2020 tournament, CSK saw 10 of its member including a Team India member testing positive for coronavirus on Friday. On Saturday, batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad also tested positive for the virus, putting the entire camp in a turmoil. To add to the pain of already suffering CSK, sources have told India Today that the other franchises are “very upset” with the lacklustre attitude of the Chennai-based franchise regarding the Covid-19 protocol.
The franchises want Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to issue a stern warning against CSK for holding a 6-day preparatory camp ahead of leaving for UAE and then also not taking the protocols in place for the successful completion of the tournament seriously.
While, all the players of other IPL franchises were seen leaving for UAE with masks and PPE kits on, CSK players since their training camps were seen hanging around without following much of the social-distancing protocols.
Talking about CSK’s preparatory camp, team’s CEO Kasi Viswanathan said it was MS Dhoni’s idea to have local players assemble in Chennai for the camp before they left for the UAE.
“When we announced the tournament is going to happen, I had reservations about conducting the camp here because the bio-bubble had to be created. In fact sent a message to him (asking) whether it will be worthwhile having a camp for 5 days before going to Dubai. But the captain was crystal clear in his thoughts,” Viswanathan had said.
Those who have tested positive will self-isolate for 14 days outside the bio-bubble. The IPL quarantine protocol for Covid-19 positive individuals says: “This will follow the Government policy and is currently 14 days. During the 14-day quarantine, the individual will be tested on Day 10, Day 13 and Day 14.
Following the positive cases, contact tracing will be done as per the health guidelines. “Contact tracing must commence at the earliest. All casual contacts will undergo an RT-PCR test immediately while close contacts will be closely monitored and tested over the next 5 days,” says the IPL health advisory.
In another bad news for CSK, vice-captain Suresh Raina left for India, citing some personal reasons and would miss the entire of IPL 2020.
These developments are definitely not what the MS Dhoni-led team would have thought of when they arrived in UAE. Bouncing back from here and gaining the right momentum will be an uphill task for CSK.