Indian players feared they must have contracted Covid, reveals BCCI president Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly revealed that the Indian players were “devastated” when they found out about physio Yogesh Parmar’s Covid-positive test before the Manchester Test last week.

Parmar contracted coronavirus on the eve of the fifth and final Test which had to be postponed just 2 hours after the Indian team refused to take the field. He was the fourth support staff member to test positive after head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar.

Ganguly will now travel to the United Kingdom on September 22 to meet with England cricket representatives to discuss the possible rescheduling of the Manchester Test

“The players refused to play but you can’t blame them. Physio Yogesh Parmar was such a close contact of the players. Being the only one available after Nitin Patel isolated himself, he mixed freely with the players and even performed their Covid-19 tests. He also used to give them a massage, he was part of their everyday lives,” Ganguly told The Telegraph.

“The players were devastated when they came to know that he had tested positive for Covid-19. They feared they must have contracted the disease and were dead scared. It’s not easy staying in a bubble. Of course, you have to respect their feelings.”

Shastri, Arun and Sridhar likely to leave for India on Wednesday provided they have two negative RT-PCR reports prior to their departure date.

Shastri, who tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the fourth Test at the Oval, has been in quarantine since September 4 and is expected to complete his 10-day isolation period along with Arun and Sridhar on Monday. Junior physio Yogesh Parmar, who tested positive on September 8, will have to remain in isolation for a few more days before he is able to fly back home.