Head coach Ravi Shastri is likely to depart from UK to India on Wednesday (September 15), along with his support staff colleagues Bharat Arun and R Sridhar, provided they have two negative RT-PCR reports before boarding the flight.
The trio had tested positive for COVID-19 during the fourth Test at the Oval and they are serving quarantine since September 4.
While Shastri, Arun and Sridhar are expected to complete their 10-day isolation period on Monday (September 13), they must return negative RT-PCR reports before leaving the UK shores for India.
Notably, all three of them will enter a much stricter bio-bubble in Dubai post IPL when the Indian team assembles for the T20 World Cup campaign.
"Ravi, Sridhar and Arun are all doing well physically and are mostly asymptomatic. They will take their RT-PCR test on Monday and if all goes well, they can fly out on the original date of departure, that is September 15. The final call will be taken by the medical team," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
According to PTI, the other support staff members, except for assistant physio Yogesh Parmar, will be flying out on Monday afternoon by commercial flight via Dubai. Yogesh was tested positive on September 8 and he will have to complete his 10-day isolation before being able to fly back home.
The fifth and final Test between India and England, which was due to begin on Friday (September 10) in Manchester, was called off at the eleventh hour.
After Yogesh’s COVID-19 result, the Indian players were anxious and they weren’t willing to take the field, resulting in the match being called off with the tourists leading the series 2-1 after four Tests.
Later on, the BCCI, in its statement, talked about an offer made to reschedule the cancelled Test. However, ECB CEO Tom Harrison has made it clear that the proposed rescheduling would be a one-off game rather than a decider for the series.
Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board has reportedly written to the ICC's Dispute Resolution Committee for deciding the fate of the fifth Test at Old Trafford.
ECB are staring at a loss of GBP 40 million, most of it won't be covered if COVID-19 is the reason for cancellation of the game. It is learnt that the ECB will push for a forfeiture of the fifth Test which would enable them to claim the compensation from the insurance company.
(With PTI inputs)
