IPL-bound England and Australia players won't require quarantine in UAE: RCB chairman

IPL-bound England and Australia players will not have to undergo a mandatory six-day quarantine in the UAE. Since the players will already be a part of the bio bubble before flying to the UAE to participate in the IPL, they will just require to be tested upon arrival, Royal Challengers Bangalore Chairman Sanjeev Churiwala said on the eve of the team’s departure for the 13th edition of the IPL. However, Churiwala iterated that the testing will be more stringent in their case.

Australia captain Aaron Finch and England all-rounder Moeen Ali are a part of the Royal Challengers camp. Both will be featuring in the limited-overs series between England and Australia before traveling to the UAE in mid-September.

Australia’s tour of England will start from September 4 and end on the 16th of the same month. The IPL starts on the 19th and in all likelihood, the English and Australia cricketers will land in the UAE on 17th, a day after the series is over.

“It is very clear from BCCI SOP that each and every player has to go through quarantine (in UAE). However, the players from England and Australia would already be in a bio-bubble as they would be playing the series there,” said Churiwala.

“If they continue to remain in that bio-bubble and we can send a charter plane then they are as secure as other payers. But they will have to go through COVID testing procedures after landing. It will be more stringent in their case. There will be no compromise on safety,” added Churiwala in a select media interaction on the eve of his team’s departure to the UAE.

England have become used to the new normal and are in the middle of their second series following the bio-bubble norms. While IPL will be the first such assignment for the Indian players. However, with strict regulations and guidelines in place, the tournament is bracing up for a huge success after it was postponed amid growing COVID-19 cases in March earlier this year.