IPL 2021: Players who are coming from the UK must undergo six days of hard quarantine
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has instructed all IPL franchises that every player ferrying from the UK to the UAE will have to undergo six days of hard quarantine. Only after that can they join the existing IPL team bubbles for the second half of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.
Speaking to ANI, a franchise official confirmed the decision. He said: "The BCCI has informed us that every player coming in from the UK to UAE will have to undergo six days of quarantine before they can join their respective team's bubble. Obviously, the bubble to bubble transfer from the UK to UAE no longer stands keeping in mind the current scenario"
After the cancelation of the fifth and final test match between India and England at Old Trafford, IPL franchises on Friday got in touch with charter companies. This, to fly their players out of Manchester to the UAE for the resumption of the cash-rich league.
IPL franchises have ferried their Indian contingent across the UK to UAE
Among the first to fly out will be the pair of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj. Royal Challengers Bangalore are ferrying them to Dubai, the team's base for the remainder of IPL 2021, on a charter flight.
In a media statement on Saturday, Royal Challengers explained that Kohli and Siraj would be flying separately from each other as the franchise believed in "keeping the safety and security of our players as its utmost priority."
"Yes, we have arranged a charter flight for Virat Kohli and Siraj, both of them will be flying out at 11:30 PM UK time on Saturday and they will reach Dubai early Sunday morning. Safe transit of players is the utmost priority for RCB. They will undergo a 6-day quarantine there before joining the team bubble," an RCB source told ANI.
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians have also flown in skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav along with their families on a charter flight from Manchester to Abu Dhabi on Saturday morning.
Chennai Super Kings players are also expected to land in Dubai on Saturday. CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told ANI on Friday that,
"Now that the Test match is off, we are looking to get the CSK boys into Dubai tomorrow."
The 14th season of the IPL, which was postponed in May this year due to the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, will resume on September 19 in Dubai. It will begn with a blockbuster clash between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.