Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Marsh hospitalised with COVID-19

Shocking news suddenly came from the Delhi Capitals team. Mitchell Marsh and several other members of the Capitals have tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. This event is certainly not what they want because Marsh has an obligation to strengthen DC in the IPL 2022 which is currently ongoing.

The Capital’s medical team continues to monitor the Australian player's health condition. Marsh is known to be playing in his first game of the Indian Premier League season on Saturday. "Delhi Capitals all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has tested positive for COVID-19, following which he has been admitted to a hospital. The Delhi Capitals medical team is closely monitoring Marsh's condition ," the team said in a statement.

Other positive cases, also occurred in the Capitals' support staff, and all fall into the "asymptomatic" COVID-19 category. A total of 4 COVID-19 positive cases in the Capitals camp. Meanwhile, all remaining members of the team are currently in isolation and will be tested for COVID-19 regularly. This unexpected turn of events forced Delhi to re-strategize the game for their next match.

DC is scheduled to face the Punjab Kings in their next match on Wednesday in Pune. Besides Marsh, DC Physiotherapist Patrick Farhart was also confirmed positive for COVID-19 last week. However, when DC took on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the weekend, no other positive cases were reported.

Preparation for next match

In their next match, the Delhi-based team will play against the Kings on Wednesday. This schedule is likely to go according to plan because so far there have been no problems in the match. “For a match to go on as per schedule, a team must have 12 players available including seven Indians. If 12 aren't available, then the IPL technical committee will take a call," said an IPL source.

In response to this, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has stated in its SOP that the availability of nine players in one team is good enough and the match can go ahead as scheduled. The International Cricket Council followed the same protocol for the recently ended women's World Cup.

“Chances of matches getting called off are negligible. Every tournament around the world is played with Covid cases around. Anyway, each IPL team has 20-23 players in their camp. They should have enough players available,” a BCCI official said on Monday evening.

In the ongoing 2022 IPL, matches are played in four locations which are in Mumbai and Pune. The match was also held by implementing strict health protocols. The capacity of the audience is only allowed 50 percent in the stadium.

COVID-19 in India

In recent weeks, India has seen a moderate increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, unlike in March and May last year when COVID cases were very high and nearing the peak. The IPL event in April last year also had to be suspended midway due to COVID-19 infections which had soared sharply across the country.

At the peak of last year's pandemic, at least 4,000 people died every day in India. On Monday, the health ministry reported more than 2,100 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.