IPL 2020: BCCI receives request to reduce quarantine period for Australia, England players, says reports

The request was made by a player anonymously, as stars from both sides don't want to miss matches.

The IPL 2020 will begin from September 19 onwards, but there is a chance that players from Australia and England might miss out on a couple of games, as they have to undergo a six-day quarantine period on arrival in UAE from England.

Both countries are engaged in a limited-overs series and the IPL bound players will fly directly to UAE on September 16 on a chartered flight from Manchester. In all 21 players from Australia and England will be coming to play IPL, but they can only be available from September 23, while the tournament gets underway from September 19.

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 And reports have stated that a certain big-hitting star has sent a request to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, who is currently in UAE, to somehow get the quarantine period halved to three days, on behalf of the players from both countries.

“Yes, the BCCI president has received a request. It may have been written by one of the players but it is something that all the English and Australian players, who are coming from the UK, feel,” a senior IPL source told PTI. The players feel that since they are already in a bio-bubble -- first in Australia and then in the UK --, it’s only logical that “they be allowed to enter from one bio-bubble to another” as they haven’t been in contact with the outside world.

“They have stayed at the Hilton hotel both in Southampton and Manchester, which is a part of the stadium. They have been tested every fifth day and even on the day of their departure from the UK, they will be tested and also on the first and third day of arrival,” the official stated.

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“If you go through the safety bubble that the ECB created, not even housekeeping was allowed in the rooms of the players. Also, they are taking a chartered flight and not a commercial one. So they do have a point when they talk about entering from one bio-bubble to another,” said the IPL official but did not comment on whether the request would be accepted.

The only franchise, which won’t be affected by the six-day quarantine rule is Kolkata Knight Riders as the team would be opening its campaign against Mumbai Indians on September 23.

The worst-hit team will be Rajasthan Royals who have Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, and Steve Smith in their side and seemingly won’t be available for their tournament opener on September 22 against Chennai Super Kings. Their star all-rounder Ben Stokes is reportedly out of the first half of the tournament owing to his father’s illness.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will miss their skipper David Warner, while his opening partner Jonny Bairstow, in all likelihood, won’t be available for at least one game. And Chennai Super Kings will miss Josh Hazlewood and Sam Curran if the quarantine period of six days is adhered to.

(PTI inputs)