On Thursday, RCB chairman Sanjeev Churiwala has expressed that the IPL-bound players from England and Australia will not be required to undergo a quarantine period of 6 days in the UAE to enter the tournament bubble as they will be coming from a controlled environment. Royal Challengers Bangalore might miss the services of Aaron Finch and Moeen Ali in the early stage of the tournament, as they will be busying in a bilateral series between England and Australia comprising three T20Is and as my ODIs before IPL 2020.
The IPL is scheduled to commence on September 19 and, in all likelihood, all the English and Australian players will land in the UAE via a charter flight on September 17, and they can be expected to play the opening matches for their respective franchises.
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Talking about the same, Churiwala said, “It is very clear from BCCI SOP that each and every player has to go through quarantine (in UAE). However, the players from England and Australia would already be in a bio-bubble as they would be playing the series there. If they continue to remain in that bio-bubble and we can send a charter plane then they are as secure as other players. But they will have to go through COVID testing procedures after landing. There will be no compromise on safety.”
If everything goes as planned, then the players will be available for their respective teams’ opening match, which they will be missing if they have to go through a six-day quarantine period. The eight teams had initially pressed for a three-day quarantine for their players to start training earlier, but the BCCI did not agree to that.
RCB chairman hinted that a charter flight can be expected to be organized even for the South African players to take part in the IPL. Updating on RCB’s foreign players’ arrival, he said: “South Africa players will arrive on August 22, September 17 for England and Australia players, Sri Lanka on September 1. We wanted an exclusive facility in the center so the players have short travel time (between Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah) and there is 100 percent compliance of the bio-bubble.”
Considering that the family members too strictly need to adhere to the tournament protocols, not many RCB players are traveling with their kids and companions this time.
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RCB also announced a 40-member contingent for the tournament comprising 21 players which includes five net bowlers, two throwdown specialists, and two personnel — sports psychologist Chaitanya Sridhar and team doctor Charles Minz — who have been looking after players’ mental health since March.
