IPL franchise KKR will be the first side to reach UAE in a bid to begin their preparation for the 13th edition of the tournament. Dinesh Kartik will lead the side in the competition this season. The team will fly from Mumbai to UAE on 20/21st August, according to The Telegraph.
They will be staying at The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal. The area of the hotel is spread across 57 acres and KKR have booked the entire hotel complying to the BCCI norms. The supports staff and players present in the hotel and training will have to operate within the protocols of the bio-secure environment.
IPL 2020: Teams To Go On A 6 Day Quarantine On Reaching UAE
On reaching the UAE, teams will have to go through a sic day quarantine process which includes tests on Days I, III and VI. They will only enter their bio-secure environment after testing negative three times, where they will stay for the entire 53-day window from September 19 to November 10. The team owners will have to go through the same process on their travels before joining with the teams.
“Team members must be allotted rooms in a separate wing of the hotel that has a separate centralised air conditioning unit than the rest of the hotel,” according to the Standard Operating Procedures.
Also, the hotel staff had to quarantine themselves 14 days before the arrival of the teams to maintain the bio-secure bubble. The Oberoi, Dubai, will be the official hotel for the BCCI.
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will be leaving on August 21 from Mumbai and Chennai, respectively. Mumbai Indians will be staying at St Regis, Sadiyat Island (Abu Dhabi), while CSK will have their accommodation at Taj Dubai.
RCB have their stay booked at Waldorf Astoria while Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will leave on August 23, will be putting up at Ritz Carlton. Kings XI Punjab will be at Sofitel The Palm, Dubai.
England And Australia Players Will Miss The First Few Days Of The IPL
The Kangaroos will face the three lions in a white ball series which will commence from 4th of September. The T20s will commence from September 4 and will be played in Southampton. The ODIs will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester from September 11 and will be part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.
Australia’s tour of England will be ending on 16th September and the players involved will travel to UAE on the 17th after which they will have to go through the mandatory quarantine procedure. The IPL governing council hasn’t agreed to relax the norms despite requests from the franchises.