English and Australian players will be reaching the UAE on the eve of the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League 2020.
Concerns were rife the teams will have to miss their signings from England and Australia at least for the first week of the league, as the two teams will be engaged in a limited overs series in England from September 14 to 16.
The IPL 2020 in the UAE will start on September 19.
However, Royal Challengers Bangalore chairman Sanjeev Churiwala has allayed the fears and expressed hope that their recruits Aaron Finch and Moeen Ali can be at skipper Virat Kohli’s disposal for the season opener.
“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 players.
“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.
Churiwala has expressed hope that the players flying in from England should be able to play from Game One itself. Had they required the mandatory six-day quarantine on arrival in the UAE, they will all be missing the first-round games.
Despite franchisees call for three-day isolation, the BCCI has stuck to the six-day quarantine.