The brand-new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a few days away. The sixteenth edition of the Indian T20 league will kick off with a match between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings on 31 March. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all prepped up to stage the biggest cricketing tournament in the world, the Indian cricket board does not want to take any risk when it comes to the safety of the players.
As the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going back to its old format where all teams play at their home as well as away venues, the BCCI wants the players to follow strict guidelines that were laid in 2022. This means that in case a player tests positive for the virus, he will have to undergo a seven-day isolation and will have to present two negative reports in order to take part in a game.
An ESPNCricinfo report has claimed that the player who is under isolation can take an RT-PCR test on the fifth day of the isolation at the earliest.
"While there has been a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in India we still have to be careful of the emerging strains which are becoming a concern at regular intervals," the IPL's medical guidelines, which were distributed to franchises this week, say as the report. "Positive cases must be isolated for maximum seven days. Positive cases will not be allowed to participate in any match or any form of activity/event during the period of isolation.
"From day five, they can undergo an RT-PCR, provided they must be must be asymptomatic without any medication for 24 hours. Once the first result is negative the 2nd test must be done 24 hours apart. Only after obtaining two negative RT-PCR tests 24 hours apart i.e. day five and day six, can they rejoin the group."
The IPL further pointed out that testing will be carried out only for those actually showing signs of Covid-19, not for those who are asymptomatic. Any participant continuing to test positive even after day seven would need to present two negative tests 12 hours apart before rejoining the group.