Published: Sep 06, 2021, 02:24 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 06, 2021, 02:24 PM (IST)
London: India batting coach Vikram Rathour, while speaking to the media in a virtual interaction at the end of the fourth day’s play spoke about the dressing room atmosphere after India head coach Ravi Shastri tested positive for Covid-19 just before the start of the play on Sunday. Rathour said that the players were a bit distracted after hearing the news but only for a brief period of time and also went on to reveal the circumstances that led the medical team to test Shastri for Covid-19.
According to a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in Indian (BCCI) on Sunday, Shastri’s lateral flow test returned a positive result following which he had to be isolated along with bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, who were his close contacts. Physiotherapist Nitin Patel was also isolated.
“Of course, we are missing them massively. Ravi bhai, Arun and Sridhar have been an extremely important part of this setup and they have done extremely well in the last 5-6 years. They have played a major role in the team doing well. But this is what it is. It is a fact that they are not here. So it was a bit of a distraction in the morning. But we had a word, we spoke. We decided we need to focus on what is in our hand, which is cricket,” said Rathour.
“I think the boys did extremely well to not get distracted because there was a potential to get distracted from the situation that happened last night. But a lot of credit should go to the boys. The way they handled themselves. We played as a team,” added Rathour.
The former India opening batsman said that Shastri felt a bit of discomfort on Saturday night.
“It was around 8 in the night yesterday, he was having a little bit of discomfort. So the medical team decided to go for a lateral flow test and it came positive and that is when we found out that he was positive. The close contacts were identified and isolated. We will wait for the medical team to let us know when they can join back.”
(With IANS inputs)
