Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), who were the first to land in the UAE last week, will start training from Wednesday (26th August) evening in the vicinity near their hotels.
As per reports in India Today, KXIP and RR players were tested on days 1, 3 and 6 during the six-day quarantine. All the COVID-19 testes came out as negative which is a happy piece of news amid the surge in cases in the UAE.
With the boiling temperature in the UAE during the afternoon, franchises have decided to set up the training camps in the evening. The Royals will be training in the ICC academy grounds in Dubai.
“All players who arrived here from India have cleared three rounds of testing and will start training today,” a source said referring to the Royals.
“All those who flew from India on 20th and have cleared quarantine will start training today,” said a KXIP source.
Other franchise Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians arrived in the UAE on Thursday. So they are likely to start training from tomorrow (27th August). Kolkata Knight Riders are expected to start the practice sessions from today in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, some overseas players are yet to land the UAE. David Miller, who has moved to Royals from KXIP, will join the squad after completing his quarantine having arrived only yesterday.
BCCI yet to announce the schedule of IPL 2020:
England and Australian players are expected to join their respective IPL franchises just two days ahead of the commencement of the league. The two countries will be playing the bilateral series until 16 September after which the players will be flown to UAE through charter plans.
The much-awaited IPL 2020 is slated to start from 19th September. The tournament will span for over 53 days and 60 matches will be played during the period. The grand finale of the league will be played on 10th November. However, BCCI is yet to announce the fixtures of the tournament.