The IPL franchises who have Australia and England players arriving from the UK will heave a sigh of relief after it was reported that all the 21 players will have to undergo just 36 hours of quarantine on arrival in UAE as opposed to the earlier mandate of 6 days.
The BCCI had received a request from all franchises having Australian and England players in their squads to reduce the quarantine period for them and under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly, the board worked successfully with local authorities and sorted out the issue successfully.
"Yes, I can confirm that all the English and Australian players have to now undergo 36-hour quarantine instead of six days. The matter has been sorted and most of the teams will now have their big stars available from the first game itself," a senior IPL functionary told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The likes of Steve Smith, David Warner, Jofra Archer, and Jos Buttler will arrive in the UAE late on Thursday night (UAE time) from the UK and on arrival will undergo RT-PCR test for COVID-19.
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"They have undergone one rapid test before boarding (the flight) and will undergo another on arrival. Otherwise, the robust testing protocols will be followed as usual. The rationale behind the move is that all the players are entering from one bio-bubble to another," the veteran BCCI official said.
The BCCI spoke to the officials of at least three franchises that have Australian and English stars and they seem to be very happy with the outcome.
"The BCCI did a great job in reducing the quarantine period to 36 hours. This means teams like Chennai Super Kings (Josh Hazlewood and Tom Curran), Rajasthan Royals (Smith, Buttler, Archer) will have all their players available from their first game. Ditto for Kings XI Punjab that has Glenn Maxwell in its roster and Delhi Capitals that has Alex Carey," a franchise official said.
KKR was the only franchise unaffected by the 6-day quarantine mandate, as its first game is scheduled for September 23 and it would have played it with Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton, and Pat Cummins in its ranks.
(PTI inputs)
