Sreesanth suffering swine flu, out of T20 tie

Indian pacer S Sreesanth is suffering from swine flu, and will not play tomorrow's Twenty20 International match against Sri Lanka here.

Sreesanth, who was admitted to the Fortis Hospital, Mohali, late on Thursday night with symptoms of H1N1, tested positive for the disease, said GS Walia, joint secretary of Punjab Cricket Association, in a statement here this evening.

Sreeshanth was admitted to the hospital on December 10 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, who missed the first Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka a few days ago, has been put on Tamiflu medications since then, he added.

"Sreesanth will remain in the hospital for a day or two. He is recovering well and all his vital signs are normal", said Walia.

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 number of swine flu cases and has already registered 10 deaths.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni earlier said Sreesanth would miss tomorrow's match because of "viral infection".

"Sreesanth has not recovered from viral infection," Dhoni told reporters.