India and England clear 3rd round of COVID Tests; hosts to begin training today
Players from both India and England cleared the 3rd and final round of COVID-19 tests on Monday. It means the teams will come out of quarantine and begin training outdoors from Tuesday.
Both India and England have been in quarantine at the Hotel Leela Palace in Chennai. The two sides arrived at the hotel on January 27 and have since been in hotel rooms as they underwent a rigorous schedule of COVID-19 testing.
The BCCI announced the same on Monday, disclosing that players will begin training from Monday evening before taking to the nets from Tuesday.
"The Indian Cricket Team completed their quarantine period today in Chennai. Three RT-PCR tests for Covid-19 were conducted at regular intervals and all tests have returned negative results. The team will have their first outdoor session today from 5:00 PM and nets sessions will begin from tomorrow.''
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released a similar statement. However, unlike India, England will only begin training outdoors from Tuesday.
“All PCR tests from yesterday's test have returned negative results. The England party are now out of quarantine and will train for the first time as a full group at the stadium tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm-5 pm (IST)”
England trio already training ahead of India series
While Joe Root and Co will begin training from Tuesday, several of their teammates have already been training outdoors. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns came out of quarantine a few days ago because they landed in India earlier than others. Taking to social media, England have been regularly posting updates about the trio’s training routine.
Both India and England will get just 3 days of training as a group ahead of the 1st Test in Chennai. Although the series opener will be played in an empty stadium, it was confirmed today that the 2nd Test from February 13 will see fans return to the stadium in the country for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.