Mohali: Indian pacer S Sreesanth tested positive for the swine flu virus, H1N1, on Friday evening, raising a question mark over India's T20 match against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Sreesanth, who had been ruled out of the game earlier, was admitted to the Fortis Hospital late on Thursday night with symptoms of the virus. "He has tested positive for the virus," said G S Walia, joint secretary of PCA, in a statement on Saturday evening.
"Sreesanth was admitted to the hospital on Thursday night at 11.30pm and was seen by the hospital physician Dr. Vikas Bhutani prior to admission. Since he had persistent symptoms of cough, fever and bodyache, his throat swab was sent for H1N1 testing and the report, which came this evening, is positive," Walia said.
The cricketer has been put on Tamiflu medication, he added.
The news will surely create a flutter in the Team India camp as Sreesanth had arrived with them on Thursday evening and interacted with almost all the team members. It is likely that he contracted the H1N1 virus even before reaching Mohali as the incubation period of the virus is three to six days.
Earlier in the day, Fortis Hospital Director Dr. AR Banerjee had said Sreesanth was brought here last night with cough, sore throat and fever and samples had been taken for swine flu tests. With the mercury dipping, Chandigarh in the past 10 days has seen a sharp increase in the number of swine flu cases and has already registered 10 deaths.