All the IPL franchises are quite happy and relieved about the fact that BCCI has allowed the players from England and Australia yo undergo only a 36-hour quarantine period in order to be available for the starting matches for their respective teams. There are a total of 21 English+Australian players combined who will be travelling from the UK to UAE to participate in the Indian Premier League. Earlier it was reported that they need to undergo an isolation period of 6 days which would definitely affect the franchises.
The BCCI has done a remarkable job under the guidance and leadership of Sourav Ganguly as they worked on the request of few franchises who had appealed to reduce the quarantine period as their players were arriving from the UK after the white ball series.
According to a senior IPL functionary who responded to the situation anonymously confirmed that the issue has been sorted and all the star players from England and Australia will be available for all the starting matches as they will undergo only a 36 hour quarantine period rather than 6 days.
Many big names which include the likes of Jos Buttler, David Warner, Jofra Archer and Steve Smith have landed in the UAE on Thursday. All the players are expected to undergo the designated Covid-19 Tests.
The veteran BCCI official confirmed that all the measures are being taken care of as the players had undergone a rapid test before they had boarded the flight and will be tested again on their arrival. Not to forget that they are entering from one bio-secure bubble to another.
It has also come to light that an Australian superstar wrote a letter to the BCCI requesting to reduce the 6 day quarantine period to 3 days. However, the franchises are now quite happy with the outcome.
This decision will highly favour Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals as their star players will be available for the first match of the competition. Not to forget the prime advantage of KXIP of having Glenn Maxwell for the first match of the season and Alex Carry will also be available for Delhi Capitals.
For CSK – Josh Hazlewood and Tom Curran
For RR – Smith, Buttler, Archer
KXIP – Glen Maxwell
DC – Alex Carry
Kolkata Knight Riders can be considered as the only team who wouldn’t have been affected by the 6 days quarantine norm as their opening match is scheduled on 23rd September.
For KKR- Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins and Tom Banton
The Indian Premier League is about to start tomorrow as the defending champions are ready to take on the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2020 opener in the UAE.