IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore postponed after two players test positive for Covid

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Monday's Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad has been postponed after two Kolkata players tested positive for Covid-19, organisers said.

Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were found to be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days, the IPL said. All other team members have tested negative for Covid-19.

"Both the players have isolated themselves from the rest of the squad. The medical team is in continuous touch with the duo and are monitoring their health," the league said. "Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases and treat them at the earliest.

"The medical team is also determining the close and casual contacts of the two positive cases during the 48 hours prior to collection of the sample that returned the positive test results."

Cricket website ESPNCricinfo reported that the players tested positive after one of them had left the tournament's bio-secure bubble for a shoulder scan.

It added that three non-playing members of the Chennai Super Kings, including chief executive Kasi Viswanathan and bowling coach L Balaji, also tested positive on Sunday.

The trio went for another round of testing on Monday to rule out the possibility of false positive reports, ESPNcricinfo said.

Chennai officials were not immediately available to confirm.

No date was given for the match to be rescheduled. The 2021 IPL regular season concludes on May 23, with qualifiers and eliminators to follow before the May 30 final.

All IPL games so far have been held behind closed doors, but after three Australian players left the tournament last week, organisers sought to reassure the remaining foreign stars that they are "totally safe".

Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye and Kane Richardson left their IPL teams before the Australian government imposed a ban on arrivals from India.

A number of players, including Bangalore's Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams and Delhi Capitals spinner Axar Patel, tested positive for the virus before the league started on April 9.

Hemang Amin, interim chief operating officer at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), last week contacted all eight franchises to assure that their players and staff will remain safe from the country's coronavirus crisis and urged to play on for "humanity".

India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day.