Three days before Mumbai Indians begins its Indian Premier League title defence, its talent scout Kiran More has tested positive for COVID-19. The former India wicketkeeper’s diagnoses is the first case of a franchise representative having been infected in a bio-secure bubble of the IPL.
“Mr. More is currently asymptomatic and has been isolated. Mumbai Indians and Kiran More have followed all the BCCI health guidelines. The MI medical team will continue to monitor Mr. More’s health and abide by the BCCI protocols,” the team said in a statement.
Over the last week, players Axar Patel, Nitish Rana and Devdutt Padikkal tested positive, but their test results were confirmed either before joining the team or during the isolation period before entering the bio-secure bubble.
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It is understood that with the recent surge all over India, the IPL hierarchy has not been taking any chances and has started testing all the individuals in the bubbles daily. It is also learnt that in case any other member of the MI camp is found to have contracted the virus by Wednesday, the IPL authorities may be forced to tinker with the schedule.
Mumbai Indians is scheduled to face Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday night.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel and BCCI interim chief executive Hemang Amin didn’t respond to queries about the concern regarding a positive case has in the bubble. However, the development has certainly made a few other franchises jittery. While no one was willing to comment in a haste, a couple of franchise executives, on condition of anonymity, hoped the case turns out to be a one-off and the “schedule doesn’t need to be altered”.
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More has been a part of an extended MI entourage, which had formed a bubble in a hotel in suburban Mumbai before leaving for Chennai on March 31. It is understood that he had cleared all the mandatory tests in Mumbai and Chennai before his test result returned positive.
More, a renowned wicketkeeping consultant too has been attending various team activities over the last week in Chennai.
In the photographs shared on social media by Mumbai Indians, More has been seen in the team’s training sessions at the SSN College Ground and a team gathering in the hotel. The former India chief selector took the first shot of the vaccine in Vadodara on March 3.