Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday (August 21) began its sojourn to UAE for the 13th edition of Indian Premier League.
While all the Indian players in the RCB squad departed for UAE from Bangalore, skipper Virat Kohli took a separate flight to the IPL destination.
According to a Mumbai Mirror report, Kohli took off from Mumbai because of bio-safety issues.
“He had quarantined himself in Mumbai and also tested himself for Covid-19. So he could not come to Bangalore. He flew alone by a charter flight from Mumbai,” a team spokesperson was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.
Notably, Kohli also arrived in Dubai by Friday evening and RCB shared his picture on social media.
The squad also had five net bowlers and all the support staff, including strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu, batting and spin bowling coach S Sriram and masseur Ramesh Mane.
The RCB spokesperson said all the overseas cricketers in addition to team director Mike Hesson and head coach Simon Katich will join the team in Dubai. South African batting maverick AB de Villiers is likely to join the squad by Saturday (August 23).
As per the report, the franchise will also organise a charter flight for the lone Sri Lankan in the squad, Isuru Udana, who will fly from Colombo to Dubai on September 1.
