Picture Credit: BCCI
If everything was going as per schedule, it would have been Day 2 of 5th Test between India and England going on in Manchester. Unfortunately, things drastically turned upside down post Indian support staff getting infected with COVID-19 which ultimately led to the cancellation of the final Test. As a result, all the focus has now been shifted to second phase of IPL 2021 which is set to resume on September 19.
All the franchises have reacted to the ongoing situation in the UK and are leaving no stone unturned to get their players back in UAE as soon as possible. It is because of BCCI's latest guidelines which states that all the players will have to undergo a mandatory 6-day quarantine on their arrival in Middle East, with the bubble-to-bubble transfer out of equation because of the recent sequence of events.
“The BCCI has informed us that every player coming in from the UK to UAE will have to undergo six days of quarantine before they can join the team bubbles. Obviously, the bubble-to-bubble transfer from the UK to UAE no longer stands keeping in mind the current scenario,” a franchise official said as quoted by Latestly.
Rohit, Bumrah and SKY have arrived in Abu Dhabi
Mumbai Indians were the first franchise to act in the situation as Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav reached Abu Dhabi on Saturday, along with their families. "The trio, along with their families, arrived today morning and will now undergo 6 days hard quarantine, starting today as per the IPL’s guidelines," the franchise stated on their official website.
Notably, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings have also confirmed that the following players- Ravi Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Mayank Agarwal- have left Manchester on an Emirates flight on Saturday.
Virat Kohli to reach Dubai on Sunday morning
Royal Challengers Bangalore have also confirmed that they have arranged a chartered flight for Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj and both the cricketers will fly from UK at 11:30 PM local time on Saturday. The duo is expected to reach Dubai on Sunday morning where they will undergo 6-day quarantine before joining the team bubble.
It is also being reported that CSK players- Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali- will take a commercial flight to Dubai from London on Saturday night.