LONDON: India head coach Ravi Shastri has been forced to remain in the team hotel after testing positive for Covid-19 during the ongoing fourth Test against England at The Oval, a BCCI statement said on Sunday.

The board said Shastri, bowling coach B. Arun, fielding coach R. Sridhar and physiotherapist Nitin Patel were all isolating as a “precautionary measure” following 59-year-old former India all-rounder Shastri’s positive lateral flow test late on Saturday.

They have all undergone PCR testing, with the BCCI statement saying they will “remain in the team hotel and not travel with Team India until confirmation from the medical team”.

A spokesman added later on Sunday that Arun, Sridhar and Patel had all since tested negative.

Officials insisted it was safe for the match to continue as the remaining members of the Indian contingent had undergone two lateral flow tests, one on Saturday and another on Sunday morning, all of which produced ‘negative Covid-19 reports’, and were allowed to go to The Oval for the fourth day.

But Shastri, Arun, Sridhar and Patel were not at the south London ground when play resumed on the fourth morning.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2021