Chennai: India all-rounder Axar Patel has rejoined the Delhi Capitals camp for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after recovering from COVID-19.
“Smiles and hugs all around as Bapu returned to the DC camp,” the Delhi Capitals tweeted a video of Axar meeting his teammates. Axar on Friday expressed elation on meeting his teammates after a considerable amount of time.
“Happy to be back @DelhiCapitals,” Axar tweeted.
Axar had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus during his mandatory quarantine ahead of the season and was subsequently taken to BCCI’s medical facility for isolation and treatment.
The BCCI SOP says a player who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate in the designated area outside the bio-secure environment for a minimum of 10 days from the first day of symptoms or the date of collection of the sample which resulted in a positive RT-PCR report, whichever is earlier.
Last week, Delhi Capitals brought in Shams Mulani as a short-term Covid-19 replacement for Axar for their IPL 2021 campaign.
Mulani, a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler from Mumbai came in as a replacement under VIVO IPL’s Player Regulations.
Under Regulation 6.1 (c), franchises are allowed to sign a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is permitted to re-enter the team’s bio-secure environment.
Hence, Mulani will not be part of the Delhi Capitals since Axar has rejoined the side.
Delhi Capitals also signed Anirudha Joshi as a replacement for the injured Shreyas Iyer.
DC’s regular skipper was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining a shoulder injury during the India-England One-Day International (ODI) series.
Joshi, a middle-order batsman, and an off-spinner joined his third IPL team, having been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals in the past.
He represents Karnataka in domestic cricket and has featured in 17 List A and 22 T20 matches so far.
Delhi Capitals are third on the points table with three wins from four games and will next lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday.