Indian all-rounder Krunal Pandya has recovered from COVID-19 and has returned back home from Sri Lanka. Krunal was the first Indian player to test positive for the virus on the team’s recently-concluded limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka. He tested positive ahead of the second T20I of the three-match series between the two teams following which the penultimate encounter had to be postponed by a day.
At least nine other players were forced into isolation following Krunal’s positive test before spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and spin all-rounder Krishanppa Gowtham also tested positive for the virus. While other players returned back home, Krunal along with Chahal and Gowtham had stayed back in Sri Lanka and was serving a quarantine period.
The all-rounder touched down in Mumbai on Thursday (August 05) and was spotted at the Mumbai airport. He was asked to return home after returning with two negative RT-PCR tests.
While Krunal has returned back home, Chahal and Gowtham are still in Sri Lanka and will be back after testing negative twice and completing their quarantine period in the country. Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav, who were in isolation following Krunal’s positive test, left Sri Lanka and landed in England earlier this week.
Both the batsmen have been sent as backups after injuries to the likes of Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar among others. Both Shaw and Suryakumar will have to serve mandatory isolation in England before joining the rest of the Indian squad. They are likely to be available for selection in the second Test in Lord’s from August 12.
