Nortje to miss RR match as DC await second Covid-19 test result, Rabada to return

There are reports that Nortje tested positive for Covid-19 but the DC management haven't released an official statement on that

The Delhi Capitals' South African speedster Anrich Nortje will not be available for the team's second IPL match against the Rajasthan Royals on Thursday as his Covid-19 test report is still awaited. His compatriot Kagiso Rabada, however, will return for the game, the team confirmed.

There are reports that Nortje tested positive for Covid-19 but the Delhi Capitals management haven't come out with an official statement on that. As per the IPL SOP, all players who have a positive result are tested once again in order to ensure that first RT-PCR outcome wasn't a false positive.

Nortje and fellow pacer Rabada had travelled together and reached Mumbai on April 6. They were supposed to be available from the second game after the completion of their seven days of hard quarantine and a negative RT-PCR test result.

"At this point, we only know that Anrich Nortje's results are awaited as he is in quarantine. We can only tell you further after we get the test results," a DC source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

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It is understood that the franchise is waiting before making an official announcement as there has been an earlier instance of a false positive. Kolkata Knight Riders' batsman Nitish Rana was the player involved in that case.

Rana had first tested positive after joining the KKR camp but his next RT-PCR result turned out to be negative.

As of now, the Delhi Capitals' Axar Patel is in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 before the start of the tournament. Patel hasn't yet fully recovered from the infection.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore's Devdutt Padikkal also tested positive but recovered in time to be available for the team's second game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.