Rahul Dravid, the head coach of Indian cricket team, will join the team later for the Asia Cup in UAE, as his RT-PCR test for COVID 19 came positive just before the departure of the team. The Indian team had to fly to UAE on Tuesday and all the players will fly as per the schedule, however Rahul Dravid will fly later once he returns a negative COVID test.
Dravid has been pivotal in changing India’s brand of cricket since taking over as head coach after the T20 World Cup last year and his presence with the team in a tournament as big as Asia Cup is extremely important, but he might not be there in India’s dressing room when India takes on Pakistan in their first game of the tournament on 28th.
Dravid’s return depends on how quickly he recovers and gets a clearance from the medical team of BCCI. There are 5 days to go before the first India Vs Pakistan game takes place and it can be assumed even if Dravid isn’t physically present in the dressing room, he will be in regular contact with the Indian team management and the captain Rohit Sharma.
Almost in every tour someone or the other is impacted by the virus. Now it’s endemic. Rahul Dravid covid positive. There is a kind of resigned acceptance now. This virus clearly won’t disappear anywhere and will keep troubling us going forward.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) August 23, 2022
“COVID symptoms of Rahul Dravid are only mild at this stage,” reads the BCCI statement
The BCCI secretary Jay Shah released a statement earlier today where he confirmed that Dravid doesn’t have serious symptoms despite having returned a positive COVID test and his symptoms are only mild at this stage. It’s also been made clear in BCCI’s statement that Dravid has not been ruled out of the tournament just yet and he is supposed to make his way to UAE later.
NEWS – Head Coach Rahul Dravid tests positive for COVID-19.
More details here – https://t.co/T7qUP4QTQk #TeamIndia
Advertisement— BCCI (@BCCI) August 23, 2022
Generally, in Dravid’s absence, NCA head VVS Laxman has been discharging India’s head coach duties in the recent times and he was with the team on Zimbabwe tour as well. With Dravid expected to be available for the latter parts of Asia Cup, Laxman might travel to UAE again for the initial parts of the tournament.
