Ahead of the commencement of the second phase of IPL 2021, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that the foreign players will not have to undergo quarantine after they arrive in the UAE for the remainder of the marquee Indian domestic T20 competition.
The IPL season will start from September 19 in the UAE as it was stopped midway in May earlier this year. The decision of phase-2 of the IPL being held in the middle-east was announced in the previous month.
According to the BCCI, the foreign players won’t be undergoing quarantine after arriving, they will have to follow the safety protocols and live in strict bio-bubbles.
The health protocols stated by the BCCI said, “All franchise team members must undergo a COVID-19 RT-PCR test, 72 hours before their scheduled flight. All individuals must quarantine themselves and avoid contact with others after the RT-PCR test. All members whose RT-PCR test result is negative may travel to the franchise’s city of choice, depending on the country of flight departure, all international passengers arriving at Dubai airport are required to display a negative RT-PCR test report for the sample taken between 48-72 hours before their scheduled flight.”
Breach of the bio-bubbles will be punishable by the BCCI and however, the players don’t have to be under isolation but they have to follow the strict bio-bubble rules.
The remainder of the IPL 2021 commences with Chennai Super Kings taking on Mumbai Indians in the first game. All the teams will be looking forward to securing a place in the knockout stages of the competition. Before the IPL 2021 came to an end earlier this year, Delhi Capitals was the team leading the points table with 12 points. DC was accompanied by CSK, RCB and MI in the top four of the IPL season.