Axar Patel Tests Positive for Covid-19

The entire world is taking special precautions to ensure they don’t contract the deadly Covid-19 disease but in recent weeks, a lot of cricketers and other sportsmen have been tested positive for the same. It was only around a week ago that we heard of Sachin Tendulkar, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan and S Badrinath testing positive after the Road Safety Series 2.0 held in India last month.

Now, it’s a huge blow for Delhi Capitals just a week before the start of the IPL 2021 season as one of their star all-rounders Axar Patel has tested positive for coronavirus. IPL 2021 begins in 9th April and Axar is one of the main cogs in the DC wheel because of his clever left-arm spinners and his ability to hit the ball big as well.

In fact, Axar is on a confidence high right now after he made his Test debut for India, bagging as many as 27 wickets in just 3 Test matches which includes four 5-fers as well. Considering the treatment takes a couple of weeks and there’s a quarantine and recovery period post that as well, we can safely assume that Axar will miss at least the first 4-5 games of the season for Delhi Capitals. Read our Delhi team preview here.

This will be a big blow for Delhi not just because he’s been in good form but because he contributes in both departments as well, along with being good in the field. This comes a few days after their captain Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 with a shoulder injury. He will be replaced by 23-year old Rishabh Pant for the season.

A few days back, KKR batsman Nitish Rana tested negative after originally contracting the virus. With so many players testing positive even before the season begins, it makes us wonder whether the tournament will go on to complete the schedule as originally planned. Either way, if you want to bet on daily matches at the IPL 2021, register on sports betting website 10CRIC.