The cancellation of the fifth Test between India and England has led to the Indians travelling early to UAE for IPL 2021 resumption. However, they will have to travel via commercial flights rather than charter.
The Indian cricketers could be somewhat relieved following the cancellation of the fifth Test against England. As a result, they get a short break, while they can now also begin early preparations for the resuming 2021 Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that the players are expected to fly out to the gulf country from Saturday. However, PTI reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is not arranging any charter flights for the IPL-bound players to UAE.
Consequently, every franchise would have to make its own travel arrangements, and the players would be travelling via commercial flights. As for the same, they would also be undergoing a mandatory six-day quarantine upon landing in the gulf.
Defending champion Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma will be leaving on Saturday for Dubai, along with pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav. Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shardul Thakur, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran are expected to travel too on Saturday, as they will be representing Chennai Super Kings.
KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami and Dawid Malan are the players featuring for Punjab Kings. While they are currently stranded in Manchester, it is unsure if they will be flying out on Saturday.
Currently, all the Indians are in their respective room of the Manchester hotel after team physio Yogesh Parmar tested COVID positive. Initially, the plan was to transfer the players from bubble to bubble following the conclusion of the fifth Test.
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