7 unvaccinated India U-19 players denied entry into Caribbean; told to 'go back'

The COVID19 outbreak in its camp was not the only offfield challenge the Indian team overcame on its way to the U19 World Cup triumphIndias problems began on arrival in the Caribbean islands with as many as seven unvaccinated members of the side detained at the airport for more than 24 hours requiring the government to step in and resolve the issueThis was after a long flight from Dubai to PortofSpain via AmsterdamLeftarm pacer Ravi Kumar who played a huge role in the teams unprecedented fifth World Cup triumph and opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi were among the players who were told to go back to India as they were not jabbedTeam manager Lobzang G Tenzing who came to their rescue with the help of the ICC and colleagues in the BCCI narrated the harrowing experience of the players The India and Trinidad government too had to step in to resolve the situationAfter we landed at PortofSpain we had to take a charter flight to Guyana but seven of our boys were stopped as they were not vaccinated We tried to explain to the immigration officials that India had not started their vaccination yet but they instructed us to take the next flight out of the country Tenzing who heads the Sikkim Cricket Association told PTIWe were surrounded by security guys of the airlines as if we would run away from there And as the argument was on with airline and immigration officials the only Lufthansa flight available had departed and the next one was after three days That gave us time to negotiate with local authoritiesI decided to stay with the boys and we had to stay in a shady hotel near the airport for the night It was only after the intervention of ICC and local government the matter could be resolved It was quite a harrowing experience for the boys he recalledThis happened in the first week of January when India started the vaccination drive for the 1518 age group In the Caribbean for the biggest event of their lives the players were inconsolableIt was not just five players entire administrative team got down with COVIDThe Indian contingents troubles in the Caribbean had only begun and soon after the detained players were allowed to join the team in Guyana a COVID outbreak jeopardised the teams participation in the tournamentThe squad did not have its captain Yash Dhull and his deputy Shaik Rasheed for two of the three league games due to COVID19The players testing positive only came to light before the second league game against Ireland but the virus in the camp came when the teams SLO Ravindran returned a positive test during a fiveday quarantine in GuyanaTeam manager Tenzing and the logistics manager then got infected sending the contingent into an administrative crisisIn all probability our SLO caught the virus on the way to Caribbean from Dubai where we were playing the Asia Cup And gradually it spread in the campThe RTPCR test results would take as long as 48 hours and that contributed to the problem said the Sikkim cricket chief having played the role of the troubleshooterTournament biobubble was a joke the authorities were lethargicThe ICC had organised the event with the help of Cricket West Indies In a challenging time like this the Caribbean was not the best place to organise a big event like the U19 WC felt TenzingIt poses additional logistical issues and people were lethargic The Indian team had the most comfortable stay in Antigua where they played knockouts and the toughest time in Guyana where they quarantined before playing their opener against South AfricaOur time in Guyana was tough to say the least When I and my colleagues were down with COVID no medical help was provided no doctor no medicines Our team physio came to our rescue It was like a system failureIn the hotel we stayed there were no separate floors for teams We were staying on the same floor as other hotel guests There was nobody to man the isolation period The rooms did not have regular running water and players faced food issuesLuckily few Indian restaurants close by helped us on that front During practice games the stadium had no water in the washrooms I can safely say we state units and the BCCI do a much better job staging domestic events in a biosecure environment added TenzingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the contents in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever