Bengaluru:There is a possibility that England and Australia players may play their initial matches for their teams provided they follow stringent testing processes once they land in the UAE.
RCB chairman Sanjeev Churiwala during a virtual press conference, pointed that given the England and Australia players will have been part of a bio-secure bubble during the limited-overs series in the UK, there is a likelihood that they may be exempted from the one-week quarantine mandated for all participants of the IPL.
Royal Challengers squad's Indian contingent, led by their captain Virat Kohli, will land in Dubai on Friday, Churiwala said.
The squad would also be joined by the South African trio of AB de Villiers, Chris Morris and Dale Steyn, who will fly out of South Africa this weekend. Sri Lanka pacer Isuru Udana, meanwhile, will join the squad on September 1, he said.
The squad will have a preparatory camp from August 29, with support staff receiving clearances to fly to the UAE and set to arrive soon.
According to the draft SOP, every squad member will have to undergo a mandatory seven-day quarantine in the team hotel. In this period, they will be tested three times - on days 1, 3 and 6.
Once all three results come back negative, the squad can start training. After that, all squad members will be tested on the fifth day of every week throughout the tournament.As many as 29 England and Australia players are spread across the eight IPL squads.
The worst hit could be Rajasthan Royals as some of their main players - such as Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes and Tom Curran - could be playing the bilateral series in England until September 16. (UNI)