The Indian Premier League tour parties will start arriving in the United Arab Emirates from today (Thursday).
Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab will be the first to touch down the UAE, where the IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 to November 10. Both the teams will reach Dubai, their home base for the duration of the league.
The matches will be played at Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Rajasthan Royals will be staying at the One & Only Palm Resort at the private peninsula of the Palm Island, whereas Kings XI Punjab will have the Sofitel Dubai The Palm as their abode in Dubai for the next two months and three weeks.
Six teams have chosen the business capital of the UAE for their stay in the UAE, whereas two others will be staying in Abu Dhabi.
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The entire IPL contingent will reach the UAE over the long weekend.
All the eight teams will be arriving in the UAE latest by Sunday, August 23.
Mumbai Indians will be flying in next on Friday. The most successful team with four IPL titles has chosen Abu Dhabi as its base for the IPL 202o. Two other teams – Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings – will also be reaching the UAE tomorrow (Friday), states a report by the Khaleej Times.
CSK has confirmed to SportzFront that they will be flying to the UAE tomorrow (Friday).
Indian captain Virat Kohli and his men from the Royal Challengers Bangalore too would be based in Dubai and will arrive on Friday.
Two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders will be reaching Dubai on Saturday, followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals. The Hyderabad and the Delhi IPL franchisees will be the last two teams to reach the UAE on Sunday.
The teams will undergo COVID-19 tests on their arrival in the UAE. The practice will only begin after confirmation that the contingents are free from COVID-19 infection.
The players, officials, management and support staff will have to follow strict standard operating procedures and stay in the biosecure bubble till the completion of the 53-day league.
The squads will be tested on arrival at the team hotel and will undergo tests on day three and six during their quarantine period.
If all the three tests are found to be negative, the teams will go into the bio-secure bubble and will begin training.
There will be follow up tests every fifth day and there will be additional tests done when travelling from one city to another.
Protocols to be followed by teams:
- Players and staff of each team need a negative Covid-19 PCR test report issued no more than 96 hours before arrival in the UAE
- Players and staff of each team to undergo mandatory Covid-19 test at UAE airports
Protocols on arrival:
- One-week quarantine
- All tests can be collected 24 hours after sample collection
Testing the timeline on arrival:
- Day 1: Test 1 on arrival at the team hotel
- Day 3: Test 2
- Day 6: Test 3
- Players and staff of each team to remain quarantined in their hotel rooms for seven days
- If all three tests are negative, players and team support staff will enter and remain within the bio-secure environment for the IPL
- Follow up testing: Every five days
- Additional testing: Will be required for matches in another city
Traveling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, everyone has to present a negative Covid-19 PCR Test report issued no more than 48 hours before reaching the check post