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.
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