No other player has even ordinary flu-like symptoms: Bindra

Mohali:

Asserting that there was no panic in the Indian cricket team after S Sreesanth had tested positive, Punjab Cricket Association chief IS Bindra on Saturday said no other player had shown even "ordinary flu-like symptoms".

"The team morale is high and there is no panic. The PCA is in constant touch with the team physio and doctors. Barring Sreesanth and three others who were suspected including Gautam Gambhir, nobody else so far has shown signs of even the ordinary flu," Bindra told a news conference here this afternoon.

Samples of Gambhir, who had shown slight cough, team manager Mayank Parekh and video analyst Dhananjay, who had also reported flu-like symptoms, have come negative after their testing at PGIMER at Chandigarh, PCA Joint Secretary G S Walia said.

While Sreesanth had last night tested positive, Gambhir's sample for swine flu testing had been taken "purely as a precautionary measure", Bindra said.

Gambhir, who hails from Delhi, had arrived here from the national capital along with some Delhi-based players in the team. He was not in the same chartered flight in which Sreesanth reached here on Friday evening.

"Gambhir had mild cough, but he did not have any fever. He did not have any severe symptom. He is currently in his hotel room in Chandigarh. There was no medical advice to have him tested, but the administrative decision was taken purely on the basis of precaution and to protect the interests of other team members," Bindra said.

Replying to a question, the PCA president stressed that there was "no question of anyone being tested without viral flu symptoms...whatever steps we are taking is in consultation with the Board (BCCI). I am in constant touch with the Board president (Shashank Manohar) and Secretary (N Srinivasan)".

Asked if any player had been put on Tamiflu drug, he said "this drug cannot be given just like that. It is given only when anyone has tested positive, because giving it before that may make a person resistant and in future this medication may not work on the affected person.

"The morale in the team is high. Everyone is cheerful and there is no panic at all," Bindra said.

He claimed that the media was "hyping up" the swine-flu issue in the Indian team.

"High panic is there mainly because of the media. There are more deaths in the US, UK and Mexico, but the media there is not making such a big issue out of it. They are treating it like any other viral without creating panic among the public," he said.