IPL match postponed as two KKR players test covid-19 positive

Monday's Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad has been rescheduled after two KKR players tested positive for COVID-19, the league said hours before the match was due to start.

Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy and seam bowler Sandeep Warrier were found to be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days, the league said in a statement.

"All other team members have tested negative for COVID-19," it said. "Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases and treat them at the earliest."

The league authorities did not say when the match would be played.

According to media reports, Chakaravarthy had left the eight-team tournament's bio-secure bubble for a shoulder scan after which the positive cases were reported.

UPDATE: IPL reschedules today's #KKRvRCB match after two KKR players test positive. #VIVOIPL

Details - https://t.co/vwTHC8DkS7 pic.twitter.com/xzcD8aijQ0

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2021

KKR's medical team was tracing close contacts of both the players, the league said.

A senior Indian cricket board official told Reuters last week that the league would continue as planned, saying the Twenty20 tournament helped lift the COVID-19 gloom in the country.

India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day. 

Bangladesh’s super-star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, who is part of the KKR setup, is also under the quarantine according to sources.