Young Chennai Super Kings batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, who tested positive for COVID-19 last month, will undergo two fresh tests starting on Sunday and could miss the first few games of the IPL.
Thirteen members of the CSK contingent tested positive for the virus and two of them were players - Gaikwad and Deepak Chahar. Chahar, along with 11 others, has recovered and resumed training after clearing his mandatory two tests.
“Ruturaj will undergo two tests as per protocol, today and tomorrow. If he tests negative, he will be back in team hotel bubble. The other staff members have tested negative and are now back to normal. They are back in the team bubble,” CSK CEO KS Viswanthan told PTI on Sunday.
Maharashtra batsman Gaikwad, an India A regular who tested positive a few days after Chahar, is being touted as the one to replace Suresh Raina but CSK might have to wait a bit as he undergoes COVID tests on Sunday and Monday. Raina pulled out of the IPL due to personal reasons.
For Gaikwad, CSK will follow the established protocol and he will also have to undergo cardiovascular and lung function tests to ascertain his fitness if he clears the coronavirus tests.
He is likely to be available for selection only after a week, which means he might have to sit out of at least the tournament-opener on September 19 against Mumbai Indians and a few more matches after that.
