Alarmed by situation in Kolkata, Nadeem stays put with ailing wife in Dhanbad

Alarmed by the recent spike in coronavirus cases in Kolkata, Indian cricketer Shahbaz Nadeem has put off his plans to return to his residence here for the treatment of his ailing wife.

Suffering from liver-related ailments, his wife Saman Akhtar was being treated in Kolkata but due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown, Nadeem could not return here from his in-laws place in Dhanbad. The couple also have a one-year-old son.

"There's a lot of cases in Kolkata recently and most of the areas are marked red zone. I think we are safe here (in Dhanbad). We are in touch with the doctors in Kolkata and taking the medicines. She is doing fine now," the 30-year-old Nadeem told PTI.

Kolkata and Howrah have been designated COVID-19 "red zones". As of Friday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in West Bengal stood at 503, while the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry website put the figure at 514.

The left-arm spinner, who made his international debut last year in a Test against South Africa at his home ground in Ranchi, had taken permission from the Dhanbad district administration to proceed to Kolkata but only to be stopped at the state border earlier this week.

"She needed to undergo a few tests which were not available here in Dhanbad. So we had left for Kolkata but could not make it. Now we are managing from here. We will return after things normalise."