Sri Lanka pushes for India series delay after Covid outbreak

Colombo - Several players and officials have been put into isolation because of the positive tests

Sri Lanka are expected to delay a one-day international series against India by at least four days because of a Covid-19 outbreak in their team, a top cricket official said on Friday.

The first match was scheduled for Tuesday. But the series will now open on Saturday after batting coach Grant Flower and a team data analyst tested positive for coronavirus, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Several players and officials have been put into isolation because of the positive tests, the cricket board has said.

“We have proposed the new dates to the Indians and it is almost certain that the tournament will be pushed back by at least four days,” the official said.

The other one-day games were to be played on July 16 and July 18.

A three-match Twenty20 series was originally due to start on July 21 and end July 25, but board sources said they were still working on new dates.

Flower, 50, had returned from England — where Sri Lanka played a one-day and Twenty20 international series — and was preparing for next week’s games when he showed coronavirus symptoms.