BCCI Receives Request From IPL-Bound Australian, England Cricketers To Reduce Quarantine Period: Report

Around 21 Australian and England stars bound for the IPL have requested the Indian Cricket Board to reduce their quarantine duration to three days so that they can get to compete for their sides from the very start of the tournament.

Sourav Ganguly Photo: AFP

The long wait for the commencement of the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League will finally come to an end when the league gets underway in the UAE with Chennai Super Kings locking horns with defending champions Mumbai Indians on 19th September at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi The IPL has always been a fine semblance of Indian and oversees players playing together under their respective franchises and competing hard with their fellow countrymen to vie for top honors and the upcoming edition of the cash rich league hold true to the tradition of the tournament . With a number of notable Australian and English cricketers still engaged in international commitments playing the ongoing ODI series between the two nation, they shall directly head to the UAE and join their respective franchises after the commencement of the third ODI which is scheduled to be played later in the day. As per reports, around 21 Australian and England stars bound for the IPL have requested the Indian Cricket Board to reduce their quarantine duration to three days so that they can get to compete for their sides from the very start of the tournament. “Yes, the BCCI president has received a request. It may have been written by one of the players but it is something that all the English and Australian players, who are coming from the UK, feel,” a senior IPL source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. 21 players, currently engaged in the 3-match ODI series between England-Australia will be boarding a chartered flight from Manchester to Dubai, touching base in the UAE on September 17. Going by the mandatory Covid-19 protocols as laid down for all franchises, they need to undergo a 6-day isolation period and hence can only be available from September 23, while tournament gets underway from September 19. Ganguly, who is in the UAE along with other office-bearers to oversee the tournament’s preparations, wasn’t available for a comment but a senior IPL source admitted that a plea has been made. The players feel that since they are already in a bio-bubble -- first in Australia and then in UK --, it’s only logical that “they be allowed to enter from one bio-bubble to another” as they haven’t been in contact with the outside world. “They have stayed at the Hilton hotel both in Southampton and Manchester, which is a part of the stadium. They have been tested every fifth day and even on the day of their departure from UK, they will be tested and also on first and third day of arrival.”If you go through safety bubble that the ECB created, not even housekeeping was allowed in the rooms of the players. Also they are taking a chartered flight and not a commercial one. “So they do have a point when they talk about entering from one bio-bubble to another,” said the IPL official but did not comment on whether the request would be accepted.The only franchise, which won’t be affected by the six-day quarantine rule is Kolkata Knight Riders as the team would be opening its campaign against Mumbai Indians on September 23.