Indian team leaves Sri Lanka, Krunal Pandya remains in isolation in Colombo

Krunal Pandya has to stay back in Sri Lanka due to the mandatory isolation period of one week.

India lost the third T20I by seven wickets on Thursday. - AP

The Indian cricket team left Sri Lanka on Friday (July 30) after having played six limited-overs matches over 45 days. All-rounder Krunal Pandya, however, remained in mandatory isolation in Colombo to recover from COVID-19.

It couldn't be confirmed whether the two players selected to tour the U.K. for the five-Test series - Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw - were leaving for the U.K. from Colombo or were returning to India on a charter plane with the rest of the squad before flying again.

India lost the T20 series 2-1 on Thursday after several players of the squad had to be isolated owing to Krunal's infection.

"Yes, only Krunal will have to stay back in Sri Lanka for the time being due to the mandatory isolation period of one week," a senior BCCI official told  PTI  on the condition of anonymity.

"After one week, if he has two negative RT-PCR reports, he will be allowed to fly back. Currently, he is in the fourth day of his isolation. All others are free to depart as they have all tested negative," he added.

India's tour of Sri Lanka was full of hiccups owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ODI series was delayed by five days and then the second T20 International slated for Tuesday (July 27) had to be deferred by a day after Krunal tested positive for COVID-19.

Eight other players, who were deemed his close contact, were also isolated and tested.

They were: his younger brother Hardik, Shaw, Suryakumar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Chahar, K. Gowtham, Ishan Kishan, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

However, all eight players tested negative.