India’s outgoing head coach Ravi Shastri continues to stay firm with his stance that he didn’t contract the contagious Covid-19 virus at his book launch in London. Shastri instead feels he got it a week earlier in Leeds where India played the third Test of their five-match series against England.
Shastri was one of the main support staff members who contracted the virus and had to be isolated from the rest of the Indian camp. The entire playing group then gave two successive negative tests. But since India were left with only one physio to look after the players and the risk of any of them returning a negative test during the Test match was quite high, the Indian team withdrew from the game.
The Test had to be cancelled on the very day it was about to kick-off at Old Trafford, and many felt the book launch that Shastri hosted in London with about 200 esteemed guests is where the whole fiasco began.
But Shastri, as he did back then, denies this claim, citing the fact that he was the only one from the book launch, who got coronavirus.
“In that book launch, I was the only guy who got COVID that’s what the media thinks but I think I got that in Leeds,”
the former India allrounder told The Republic TV.
“Because of the incubation period which took place for 3/4 days then 7/8 days whatever it takes I got it wrong on the 3rd or 4th and my book launch was on the 31st.
It was a beautiful book launch attended by 200-300 people very distinguished guests from all sections of society and I know that I am the only guy who got it because I had friends who came there they were all fine,”
he added.
Shastri also said the idea of hosting the book launch in London was no breach of the health safety rules in play since UK prime minister Boris Johnson himself opened things up for the general public on July 19.
The fifth and final Test is now rescheduled for next year in Birmingham from July 1.
