The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, his white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma, and head coach Ravi Shastri joined the England-bound squad’s bio-bubble on Tuesday and now they have begun their eight-day hard quarantine along with the women’s team in Mumbai. The Indian women’s team members also gathered for their eight-day hard quarantine at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai located near the international airport.

The teams will be flying out to England on June 2 after all the playing and non-playing members return three negative RT-PCR results. The men’s team will first take on New Zealand in the World Test Championship final from June 18 before a 5-match Test series against England. The women are scheduled to take on the hosts in one Test, three ODIs, and as many T20Is scheduled to be commencing on June 16.

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Elaborating the same one of the sources of PTI in BCCI said, “Wriddhiman (Saha) and Prasidh Krishna joined the bubble two days back after recovering fully from COVID-19. Mumbaikars like Virat, Rohit, and coach Shastri have all now joined the bubble.”

It is learned that approval for allowing the players’ families are still awaited but the BCCI is hopeful that it would be done soon.

The source further explained, “We can’t have our players being away from their families for three months and that too in a bubble. That’s never great for mental health.”

The negotiation on quarantine duration once the team reaches England is still on and the hard quarantine (confined to hotel rooms) could be shortened.

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PTI has already reported that no change in the schedule of the five-match Test series can happen after the England Cricket Board, during informal discussions, intimated to BCCI that a shift of dates is not possible.