IPL 2020: Tom Banton and Pat Cummins to undergo 6-day quarantine; other ENG-AUS players cleared to play

The much-awaited IPL 2020 is just around the corner, with the season-opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings locked on September 19th. The entire tournament is going to be hosted by the BCCI in UAE due to the current pandemic situation in the country.

One of the highlights of the cash-rich league is the participation of foreign stars. Many overseas players including West Indies’ stars who were a part of this year’s Caribbean Premier League have already joined their respective franchises.

Meanwhile, players from England and Australia, after arriving from the UK on Thursday, will have different quarantine rules according to their sides’ home bases. Players who have Dubai as home base will be cleared to play if their COVID-19 tests on arrival are negative. However, players heading to Abu Dhabi will have to spend six days in quarantine as the capital has stricter quarantine norms, according to a New Indian Express report.

Only two IPL sides have Abu Dhabi as their home base– Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. MI would be unaffected by the six-day quarantine rule as they don’t have any English/Australian players to join their camp.

KKR will start their IPL 2020 campaign against MI on September 23

However, KKR will have to deal with the absence of Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton and Pat Cummins. The trio’s six-day quarantine, starting from today, will end on September 23. But all three players still won’t be available for KKR’s opening fixture against MI on September 23rd at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Earlier, all franchisees who have England and Australia players in their squad had requested to reduce the quarantine period upon their arrival. The BCCI, however, has been able to relax quarantine rules in franchises staying in Dubai. IPL sides who have been staying in Abu Dhabi will have no choice but to make England and Australia stars go through the six-day quarantine period.

After culmination of the three-match ODI affair, IPL 2020 will finally witness the arrival of several stars like Steve Smith, David Warner, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer on Thursday night. All players will undergo RT-PCR test for COVID-19 upon their arrival.