India batsman Karun Nair has successfully recovered from Covid-19 and is set to travel with the Kings XI Punjab team to the UAE next week to take part in the IPL. ESPNcricinfo understands Nair tested positive for the coronavirus recently, but tested negative on August 8.
It is understood Nair went into self-isolation for more than two weeks before clearing the test. Nair will now undergo three further tests as part of the protocol the Kings XI management has laid out for the contingent travelling to the UAE. Only those who clear the testing process will board the flight on August 20. Nair will be part of a small group in Bengaluru that will board a charter flight that will pick up a wider set of players and staff from Delhi.
Nair has played 14 games for Kings XI across the 2018 and 2019 IPL seasons, scoring 306 runs, including two fifties, at a strike rate of 134.80.
Nair is the first high-profile Indian cricketer to have had Covid-19. The pandemic has severely affected India, which has had more than 2 million cases so far, the third-highest total globally behind the USA and Brazil. The pandemic has led the BCCI to shift the 2020 IPL season to the UAE.
Nair is the second person associated with the IPL to have been affected by Covid-19 after Rajasthan Royals announced on Wednesday that their fielding coach Dishant Yagnik had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The IPL has laid out rigorous, mandatory testing processes including multiple tests and a week-long quarantine period upon reaching the UAE before teams can start to train. Also, as per the local government norms, any person entering the UAE would need to carry a negative test result taken in the previous 96 hours.