Ponting in isolation after family member tests positive for Covid-19
Ricky Ponting, the Delhi Capitals head coach, will isolate in his hotel room for five days after a family member tested positive for Covid-19. He will therefore not be present at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium for Capitals' match against Rajasthan Royals later today. The match is expected to go ahead as scheduled.
Ponting has twice tested negative since his family member's positive test, but a statement from the franchise said that "in the best interest of the team, the management and medical team has decided that he will remain in isolation for five days". For the time being, Ponting's absence is likely to only be for Friday's game. With the Capitals' next fixture only on April 28, against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede, Ponting is expected to join his support staff of Pravin Amre, James Hopes, Ajit Agarkar, Shane Watson and others in time.
Though none of the other teams have had any positive Covid-19 cases since the start of the tournament on March 26, the Capitals have had a number of positive results. On Wednesday, Tim Seifert, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter, became the sixth member of the Capitals contingent to test positive after Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh, physio Patrick Farhart, sports massage therapist Chetan Kumar, team doctor Abhijit Salvi, and social media content team member Akash Mane.
Their previous fixture was moved from Pune to Mumbai, where the teams are based, to avoid inter-city travel, and during that game, against Punjab Kings, none of the Capitals players shook hands with the opposition after the game. Ponting and other members of the coaching staff were spotted wearing masks in the dugout. The Friday fixture against Royals, too, was shifted from Pune to Mumbai.
The first Covid-19 case in the Capitals camp emerged on April 15, when Farhart tested positive, and the next day, Chetan tested positive too. On April 18, team doctor Abhijit Salvi, a member of Capitals' social media team, and Marsh tested positive. The following day, Seifert also returned positive results, and has since been shifted to a facility outside the team hotel.
It was only after all the players and support staff returned negative results that the game against Kings went ahead.
From the IPL 2022 playing conditions…
What happens if a player or squad member tests positive for Covid-19 during the IPL?
The participant who tests positive will have to isolate for a minimum of seven days, and during that period, he will be tested on the sixth and seventh days. For him to re-enter the team's bio-secure environment, he will have to provide two consecutive negative RT-PCR tests taken 24 hours apart, full resolution of symptoms, see that there are no fresh symptoms for more than 24 hours, and that there have been no use of medications for more than 24 hours.
What happens if a team is affected by multiple Covid-19 infections and many of their players are unavailable?
A franchise can field a team if there are a minimum of 12 players available for them, including at least seven Indians and one substitute. If a team has fewer than 12, the BCCI will attempt to reschedule the match for later in the season. If, for some reason, that is not possible, the matter will be referred to the technical committee of the IPL, and the decision of the committee will be "final and binding".
Earlier, when the rescheduling of a match was not possible, the franchise unable to field a team would lose the points to the opponent.