COVID scare at Chennai hotel hosting Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament teams; players safe: TNCA

Around 20 staff members of a hotel in Chennai which is currently base for three Cricket teams from Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram respectively, have tested positive for Coronavirus ahead of upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association on Monday asserted that cricketers were safe and re was thing to panic.

're is thing to panic': TNCA official

"re is thing to panic. players and ors involved in tournament staying at Leela Palace are safe. y are staying in a bio-secure environment," a TNCA official told news ncy PTI.

Ar official told ANI that testing has been carried out on staff and it isn't necessary that y have even come near players. Citing example of IPL, he said, "As you saw during IPL as well, board is very strict with bubbles, and staff serving players had already been tested before teams arrived and have stayed separately. Even n, if something does come up later, we will act promptly. For w, everything is under control."

Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2020

teams had assembled in ir bio-hubs on Saturday and are undergoing quarantine. y have returned negative from first Coronavirus test while a second COVID test is underway. teams will undergo ar COVID test on Wednesday and after passing tests, y can begin with practice sessions on Friday.

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Leela Palace is second hotel in Chennai where staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 after ITC Grand Chola which emerged as a hot spot with over 80 people testing positive.  Plate group matches of Mushtaq Ali Trophy are scheduled to begin at various venues in Chennai from January 11. Bangalore, Kolkata, Vadodara, Indore, and Mumbai have been chosen as venues for five Elite groups respectively.

Earlier, TNCA anunced that Indian batsman Dinesh Karthik will lead Tamil Nadu in tournament while all-rounder Vijay Shankar will be his deputy for showpiece vent. Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad will be hosting quarter-finals (Jan 26-27), semi-finals (Jan 29), and finals (Jan 31) of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

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(With ncy inputs)