IPL 2022: Delhi Capitals versus Punjab Kings fixture shifted from Pune to Mumbai

The 32nd fixture of IPL 2022, set to be played between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals on April 20, has been shifted from Pune’s MCA Stadium to Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium in the wake of Covid-19 cases emerging in the Capitals’ camp, where Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh contracted with the virus after a few support staff members, including physio Patrick Farhart returned positive tests.

The development forced the team to cancel their travel to Pune as the entire squad was put in quarantine with regular Covid-19 tests being conducted. The results of a fresh round of testing conducted on April 19 (Tuesday) are awaited, however, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the development in a bid to “avoid any further incident due to any undetected case during a long-distance bus journey in a closed environment.”

Farhart was the first member to test positive, returning with that result on April 15. Only a day later, massage therapist Chetan Kumar contracted the virus, which was followed by the positive test results of Marsh, team doctor Abhijit Salvi and member of the franchise’s social media team Akash Mane, all on April 18.

The BCCI, in a media release, confirmed that those positive are currently being monitored and are under medical supervision. “They will be tested on Day 6 and 7 and subject to both the tests being negative they will be re-integrated into the Delhi Capitals bio-secured bubble.”

The release stated further that the DC contingent will undergo another round of RT-PCR testing early on April 20, subjected to which, CricTracker understands, a final call regarding the game’s fate will be taken. As per the current BCCI norms in place, any person contracting Covid-19 needs to serve a mandatory seven-day quarantine and must return two negative RT-PCR tests before being allowed to enter the bubble.

Further, in case of multiple positive cases in a camp, a franchise can field a team if there are a minimum of 12 players available, of which at least seven shall be Indians and one substitute. In a situation of a team having fewer than 12 players, the BCCI will reschedule the match to a later date, and in case that is not possible, the matter will be referred to the technical committee of the IPL, whose decision will be binding.

Meanwhile, the IPL has had its tryst with Covid-19 earlier as well, as the previous edition had to be halted midway through after the emergence of positive cases in as many as five different camps. The league stage subsequently resumed in the UAE and the tournament was concluded in October 2021.