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The dreading Covid-19 has now entered Bengal Ranji camp which led to several positive cases in the squad, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) informed.
“Keeping in mind the current pandemic situation, the Cricket Association of Bengal had conducted RT-PCR Tests of all Bengal cricketers as a safety measure,” CAB secretary Snehasish Ganguly said.
He added, “The results have come out and it has been found that certain players had tested positive. The CAB is taking all necessary precautions and actions in this regard.”
Reportedly, the six players to have contracted the virus are namely Sudip Chatterjee, Anustup Majumdar, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Geet Puri, Pradipta Pramanik and Surajit Yadav. Assistant coach Sourasish Lahiri is a member of the coaching staff found to be infected.
All the aforementioned seven individuals were involved in an intra-squad warm-up game held at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt Lake. The match was conducted on Sunday in a bid to prepare for the campaign.
The Ranji Trophy is scheduled to commence on January 13 and Bengal, in Group B, will play their matches in Bangalore. However, with the recent upsurge in Covid cases, there remains a question mark over the scheduled start of the tournament. The BCCI has already postponed the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy.
On Sunday, the West Bengal government brought back Covid-related restrictions, shutting all educational institutions and announcing other measures to stem the spread of the virus.
With the recent upsurge in Covid cases, the CAB has also decided to “put on hold” all local tournaments “for the time being”. The state association is also taking “immediate steps to vaccinate the registered players who fall in the 15-18 age bracket”.
