Chennai Super Kings' May 5 game against Rajasthan Royals postponed

Wednesday's IPL game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals has been rescheduled after the Super Kings informed the organisers that the squad had gone into a week-long quarantine from Monday.

K Viswanathan, the Super Kings' chief executive officer, told Cricday that the franchise had written to the IPL informing them that the entire Super Kings contingent was isolating after it emerged that two people, including bowling coach L Balaji, had tested positive for Covid-19 after Monday's round of tests.

It is the second match to be rescheduled after Monday's game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders was also postponed after the Knight Riders' spinner Varun Chakravarthy and seam bowler Sandeep Warrier tested positive for Covid-19.

Incidentally, Viswanathan was originally part of the three people to test positive in the tests conducted on May 2, Sunday, which was a day after the Super Kings lost a last-ball thriller to defending champions Mumbai Indians in Delhi. Then, Monday's round of follow-up testing cleared Viswanathan, but Balaji and the cleaner of the team's bus tested positive for the second time in two days.

"The IPL SOPs say if any member of the team is infected, the rest of the group needs to isolate for seven days. So we have informed the IPL on Monday," Viswanathan said.

Viswanathan confirmed that the rest of the Super Kings' contingent had also been tested on Monday and everyone barring Balaji and the bus cleaner had cleared the tests.

Official Announcement!#WhistlePodu #Yellove pic.twitter.com/45mWyu8ySn

— Chennai Super Kings - Mask Pdu Whistle Pdu! (@ChennaiIPL) May 4, 2021

The Super Kings are scheduled to face the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi on May 7 before moving to Bengaluru for three games, including a match against the Punjab Kings on May 9.