Virat Kohli-led Indian team will leave for Britain on 2 June. However, before leaving for a long tour of Britain, Indian cricketers will be on a rigorous eight-day stay in Mumbai. In this tour, in addition to the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand, the Indian team will also play a five-match Test series against England.
The selected team for both the WTC and five-match Test series against England are same.
Speaking to ANI, a BCCI official in the know of the roadmap drawn for the WTC final and the five-match Test series against England said that it will be a case of breaking the quarantine period into two parts so that players can start training once in the UK on June 2.
“You can expect the boys to come into the bubble on May 25 as it will be an eight-day quarantine period which will not just involve testing against Covid-19, but also there will not be any movement as the boys prepare for the UK schedule,” the official said.
“Once in UK on June 2, the boys will go for another 10-day quarantine. But this time the cricketers can train as they are moving from the bubble in India to the bubble in England in a charter plane. A bubble-to-bubble move lets them train even though there will be continuous testing at all times and no further movement,” the official explained.
“Not just the duration of the tour, the Covid-19 restrictions also mean you cannot move around the place. There will be more than a month’s gap between the Test Championship final and the opening Test against England in Trent Bridge from August 4. The players will have their families travelling with them,” the official said.
“But the second dose is the question here and while the BCCI is looking at working closely with the England and Wales Cricket Board to ensure players can get a second dose in the UK, if that is not approved by the UK government, we will have the vaccine taken from India for the second dose. Let’s see how that works out in the coming days.”
In the recent development Prasidh Krishna, the standby placer for the mega series has been tested positive for COVID-19.
After reaching the UK, the Indian team will also stay there in Quarantine for 10 days. However, the situation is not clear yet on whether Team India will be allowed to practice during this time. Actually, the BCCI is in talks with the English Board about this.
