England and Australia’s IPL-bound players will most-likely miss the first week of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was announced that the two teams will play six white-ball games from September 4-16 at Southampton and Manchester respectively.
The latest that the players can reach UAE is September 17 or 18. As per the IPL SOP, the players need to be quarantined for six days with RT-PCR tests on days 1, 3 and 6. On the seventh day, they will get to enter the bio-bubble if they test negative on all three tests.
Image source: IPL official Facebook page.
A total of 29 players from England and Australia are part of the eight IPL squads including top draws like David Warner, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Steve Smith and this year’s record buy Pat Cummins.
None of the players will be available for at least the first two-three games of their respective franchises.
ANDREW MCDONALD TO MISS ENGLAND TOUR
As per Australia’s cricket board, senior assistant coach Andrew McDonald will miss the tour to England. This is due to his pre-existing commitment with his IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR).
“Australian men’s team Senior Assistant Coach Andrew McDonald will not travel with the squad to the UK to fulfill a pre-existing commitment as Head Coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.
McDonald has replaced Paddy Upton as the head coach of RR last year.
RR are likely to suffer the most in the initial games as they have Butler, Smith and Archer in their ranks.