Reports | Nitish Rana tests positive for COVID-19

Days ahead of the commencement of a new season, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been jolted by a COVID case as reports have emerged that Kolkata’s Nitish Rana has tested positive for COVID-19. Rana, who featured in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi, is said to have returned a positive test result two days ago after having returned from a holiday in Goa. The reports are unconfirmed and there has been no official word on the matter, but newspaper ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ reports that Rana is currently in isolation, away from the rest of the KKR camp, and is being monitored by doctors in a hotel in Mumbai.

Rana is an integral part of the KKR camp, and is expected to feature in the Top 3 for the side this season. The southpaw has accumulated over 300 runs in each of his last 4 IPL seasons and despite misfiring in IPL 2020, still managed to amass 352 runs at a healthy strike rate of 138.58.

No other camp has reported news of players testing positive, despite COVID-19 cases in India being on the rise.