Following the news that Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Mitchell Marsh tested positive for Covid on Monday (April 18), the BCCI on Tuesday announced that their match against Punjab Kings (PBKS), has been moved from the MCA Stadium in Pune to the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The match will take place as scheduled on Wednesday, but the teams, who were supposed to travel to Pune on Monday, will remain in the city to play their match on Wednesday (April 20).
After the players took a second round of RTPCR tests on Tuesday, the BCCI came to this decision on the match to avoid any further incidents due to any undetected cases during their long-distance bus journey in a closed environment.
With a CT value of 17, Marsh has been hospitalised after testing positive. In addition to the all-rounder, DC's team doctor, a member of the social media team, and three hotel staff personnel have tested positive for the virus as well. Earlier, team physio Patrick Farhart had tested positive for the virus.
Although the RTPCR reports of all other players have returned negative, the players will undergo another round of testing on Wednesday ahead of their game against PBKS. The positive cases are under isolation and medical observation. They will be tested on days six and seven and subject to both the tests being negative they will be re-integrated into the DC bio-bubble.
What do the rules say?
As per the BCCI rules, DC's fixture against PBKS will be postponed if they fail to field a playing XI. If postponing the fixture is not possible, the issue will be taken up by IPL Technical Committee for a final decision.
“BCCI, at its discretion, will attempt to reschedule the match for later in the season if a team cannot field a playing XI due to COVID-19. If this is not possible, the issue will be referred to the IPL Technical Committee,” states the rule.
Farhart connection
Marsh was undergoing rehab under team physio Patrick Farhart's guidance. It is possible that the T20 World Cup 2021-winning Aussie all-rounder picked up mild symptoms during the period.
"DC were supposed to travel to Pune today but the entire squad members have been told to retire to their respective rooms and as per protocol RT PCR is being done to ascertain whether there is an outbreak in the camp or it is an isolated case like Patrick Farhart," a BCCI source had earlier said.
DC's IPL performance so far
DC lost their previous game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Marsh made his debut in that game after recovering from injury. He had an unimpressive outing scoring just 14 runs from 24 deliveries which contributed to DC falling short of the target by 17 runs. Currently, they are placed eighth on the points table with two wins from three games.
