Unlike other leagues in the world, where players have been allowed to participate in matches despite testing positive for COVID-19, BCCI is taking no risks and is sticking to its isolation policy, where players will have to quarantine for at least a week before rejoining their respective franchises, a report in ESPNcricinfo states.
"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. 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," the IPL's medical guidelines, which were distributed to franchises, and accessed by ESPNcricinfo states.
The guidelines further state that two negative TR-PCR tests, 24-hours-apart is what it will take for the players to join back. The tests will only be conducted from day 4 onwards and that too if the player is asymptomatic and without any medication for a period of 24 hours. If the player tests positive even after the first seven days, the period of two negative RT-PCR tests will be reduced to 12 hours.
In a first, Tahila McGrath became the first player during the Commonwealth games T20 final to play a game of cricket despite being COVID-19 positive. Many leagues in the world have followed and there have been no strict norms regarding COVID, but since there is a lot at stake in IPL in terms of finances, BCCI's decision to not loosen up makes sense.
The league is set to start from March 31 and will open with a blockbuster clash between Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans and MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings.
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