ENG vs IND: Rishabh Pant out of quarantine, joins Team India bio bubble

Ahead of the five-match Test series against England, India received a shot in the arm as maverick wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has joined the team’s bio-bubble. Pant, who tested positive for COVID-19, returned negative RT PCR reports and served 10 days of isolation, mandatory protocols before being allowed to join the squad. BCCI took to Twitter and posted, “Hello @RishabhPant17, great to have you back.”

Hello @RishabhPant17, great to have you back 😀#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/aHYcRfhsLy

— BCCI (@BCCI)

Hello @RishabhPant17, great to have you back 😀#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/aHYcRfhsLy

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 21, 2021

Apart from Pant, training assistant Dayanand Garani also tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, standby opener Abhimanyu Easwaran and bowling coach Bharat Arun were forced into isolation after being identified as close contacts with Rishabh Pant.

While there is no clarity on how Pant got infected, he went to see the Euro 2020 match between England and Germany at Wembley and many believe he must have caught the virus during his stay at the stadium. Also, his visit to a dentist is seen as a possible source of infection.

With Pant and Saha in isolation, KL Rahul donned the keeping gloves in the warmup game against Select County XI. Rahul, who is fighting for a spot in the playing XI, grabbed the opportunity with both hands and slammed a magnificent hundred, helping team India post 311. The bowlers then had impressive outings and restricted the County Select XI to 220-9 at the end of Day 2. Umesh Yadav was the pick of the bowlers and accounted for 3 wickets while Mohammed Siraj backed him up with two wickets. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shardul Thakur picked up a wicket each.