England cricket team players won’t be shaking with their opposition players in their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka instead, the players of two sides will greet each other with fist bumps after the match. On the eve of England team’s departure to the island nation, skipper Joe Root addressed the issue of spreading coronavirus and said that, the visitors will try to make minimum contact. The decision was taken after some of the England players suffered gastroenteritis and flu problems in their recent tour of South Africa and thus, they want to avoid the threat of illness in their tour to the island nation. Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler Receive Royal Honours At Buckingham Palace.

“After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we’ve been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria,” said Root ahead of the Sri Lankan tour. Coronavirus Outbreak: Italian National Tests Positive For COVID-19 in Jaipur, Third Case Reported in Last 24 Hours.

In recent times, many people around the world have been suffering due to coronavirus and due to that, the after-match ritual of shaking hands with the opposition players will not be witnessed in forthcoming England vs Sri Lanka series. “We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the antibacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs,” Root added.

The right-handed batsman, however, reassured of the fact that the Sri Lankan tour will not be affected and all the games will be played according to the schedule. “There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected, but of course it is an evolving situation so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised, but at this stage we fully expect the tour to continue as planned.”

England’s 2020 Tour of Sri Lanka will consist of two Tests, starting from March 19 at the Galle International Stadium. With the ICC World Test Championship going to its latter, the upcoming series will be crucial for both the teams. In the current team standings of the Championship, England are placed at the fourth spot while Sri Lanka have taken the fourth position. Going by the recent form of the two sides, Joe Root and Co are the favourites to clinch the series. However, the Dimuth Karunaratane-led side can’t be taken lightly in their own backyard.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2020 08:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).