Defending champions, Mumbai Indians has started preparation to travel to UAE for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020), which will be played from September 19.
Domestic players of the Mumbai Indians had assembled in Mumbai and Indian team players will join them in the next 7-8 days. All the players arriving in Mumbai are sent to 14-day quarantine and advised to be in their room. Players will be allowed to start training when their quarantine period will be over.
“The domestic players have started to arrive and they all are sent into a 14-day quarantine wherein the only time they are allowed to exit the room is when they need to get their test done. Apart from that, all facilities are being provided inside the rooms,’’ a Mumbai Indians official was quoted by IANS.
“The India players are also expected to come in soon and they too will go through the quarantine phase. As and when a player’s quarantine period is over, he is then given the go-ahead to start training at our ground,” the official explained.
A total of five tests will be done before leaving for UAE, players will undergo two tests at their hometown and further three tests in Mumbai.
“We have asked all the players to undergo two rounds of testing in their home city before they come to Mumbai. Here, we will do another three rounds of testing, which we believe is good enough. There might be one or two cases wherein a player might not have had adequate facilities at home and managed to get just one test instead of two. But all in all, we are looking at five rounds of tests before heading to play the IPL for the players as well as the support staff,” the official pointed.
Though BCCI is yet to release Standard Operating Protocol (SOP), Mumbai Indians have prepared their roadmap and will integrate with BCCI SOP when released.
“We are waiting for the SOP from the BCCI, but we do understand that these are unforeseen times and the pressure is already that much more on the board. We also have prepared our roadmap on how we are looking to approach the tournament and will integrate it with the SOP which the BCCI is expected to give us in the next couple of days. Patience is the key as nobody was prepared for such a turn of events,” he added.
BCCI has directed the franchise to leave their base for UAE after August 20, so Mumbai Indians are planning to leave the country on August 21 or August 22.
The official claimed, “Let’s see. Maybe around August 21 or 22. The final date hasn’t been zeroed in on as yet. We should have a clearer picture after the meeting with the IPL Governing Council.”
