With the fifth Test between India and England being called off due to COVID-19 scare in the visiting camp, the focus now shifts to the second half of IPL 2021, slated to be held in UAE from September 19 to October 15.
For the cash-rich event, the franchises are making arrangements to bring their respective players from Manchester to Dubai.
According to a PTI report, Mumbai Indians (MI) stars Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav are leaving for Dubai on Saturday (September 11) while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have also made individual travel arrangements.
Initially, BCCI had plans to bring all the IPL-bound players on a charter flight on September 15 but it has now been aborted with the cancellation of the fifth Test.
For CSK, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shardul Thakur, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran will board the flight while KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami and Dawid Malan are part of the Punjab side.
"The BCCI isn't arranging any charter flights since the Test match has been cancelled. So every franchise is making their own travel arrangement. Since they are all flying commercial, they will be doing six-days of room quarantine," a senior IPL official said, as quoted by PTI.
After landing in Dubai, the players will have to undergo a six-day quarantine before joining the rest of the squad members who are already in the IPL 2021 bubble.
Before COVID struck the Indian camp, the plan was a bubble to bubble transfer.
"Charter flight is not a possibility anymore. We are trying to get their tickets done for a commercial flight tomorrow. When they land, they will do six-day quarantine like the rest of the players," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told PTI.
Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon said: "In all likelihood, our players will fly out from Manchester tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are arranging a charter flight to bring Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj from Manchester to Dubai on Sunday (September 12) morning.
"Yes, we have arranged a charter flight for Virat and Siraj, both of them will be flying out at 11:30 PM UK time on Saturday and they will reach Dubai early Sunday morning. Safe transit of players is the utmost priority for RCB. They will undergo 6-day quarantine there before joining the team bubble," sources within the RCB franchise confirmed to ANI.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Indian players are confined in their rooms in Manchester ever since assistant physio Yogesh Parmar tested positive on Thursday (September 9).
(With PTI/ANI inputs)
