BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -- ON the eve of their opening game this morning against Pakistan, three West Indian players returned positive results thus barring them from competing in the ODI and T20 games.
The team recently arrived in Pakistan and were subjected to the usual COVID-19 protocols which included several rounds of COVID tests. Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell, allrounders Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers, along with a non-coaching member of the team management unit returned positive tests in Karachi and will therefore be unavailable to participate in the short series, Cricket West Indies announced. All four members are said to be fully vaccinated and are without major symptoms.
Commenting on the announcement, CEO of CWI Johnny Grave said: “Our arrival testing protocols in Pakistan have confirmed four (4) COVID-19 positives. These were confirmed whilst the players and staff were still in room isolation, so despite this significant setback to our preparation plans, we are confident that the tour can continue as everyone else returned negative PCRs prior to their arrival into Pakistan and two negative PCRs since they have been in Karachi.”
He added: “The risk of COVID-19 infection is impossible to remove completely from a cricket tour, in spite of the fact that many of our players have been living in bio-secure bubbles almost continuously since before the CPL. This unusual loss of three players from our squad will seriously impact our team preparations, but the rest of the squad are in good spirits and will begin training today ahead of our first game on Monday.”
All four individuals will remain isolated from the rest of the West Indies squad and are now under the care and supervision of the Team Physician, Dr Akshai Mansingh. They will remain in isolation for ten (10) days and until they return negative PCR test results.
