Off The Field

Gautam Gambhir tests negative for COVID-19

Written by Abhishek Patil

Former India cricketer, Gautam Gambhir, on Sunday announced that he has tested negative COVID-19. He was in isolation for a couple of days after a COVID-19 case at his home. In a tweet, Gambhir had urged the public to follow guidelines and to stay safe.

On Sunday morning, he announced the result of COVID-19 report and wrote: “Glad to share that my COVID test result is negative. Thank you for all the wishes. I again urge everyone to strictly follow guidelines. Stay safe.”

The news is a big relief for his fans who were anxiously waiting for Gambhir’s report. The 39-year-old has been working as a cricket expert during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. On Saturday, Gambhir hogged much limelight for criticising Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who crashed out of IPL 2020 after losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator.

Gambhir, a two-time IPL-winning captain, asked for a change in captaincy and said RCB never deserved to qualify for the playoffs. “100%, because the problem is about accountability. Eight years into the tournament [without a trophy], eight years is a long time. Tell me any other captain…forget about captain, tell me any other player who would have got eight years and wouldn’t have won the title and would have still continued with it. So it has to be accountability. A captain needs to take accountability,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“You can keep saying ‘we qualified for the playoffs and we deserved to qualify for the playoffs’, absolutely not. RCB actually never deserved to qualify for the playoffs. If you see the last four or five games, and even that one Super Over against Mumbai Indians, they were very fortunate that Navdeep Saini bowled that over brilliantly. Otherwise, they didn’t have a great season. From the batting point of view and the bowling.”

Gambhir lives in Delhi, one of the worst-hit states with COVID-19. The national capital has witnessed a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases. As per the officials, Delhi is witnessing third wave of coronavirus. The state recently recorded over 7,000 cases for the first time.

About the author

Abhishek Patil