IPL 2021: Virat Kohli to join RCB camp on April 1, set to undergo quarantine

Virat Kohli will reportedly join the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad on April 1, two days after the team begins their training camp in Chennai. Several members of the RCB squad have already landed in Chennai to start preparations for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season which gets underway on April 9 in Chennai.

RCB will play their initial set of matches, including the IPL tournament-opener against defending champions Mumbai Indians, in the city. The Bangalore-based outfit will begin its preparation for IPL 2021 on Tuesday (March 30). Kohli’s India teammates Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj flew to Chennai from Pune on Monday afternoon to join the team.

Kohli, on the other hand, has decided to take a break after the long series against England ahead of joining his IPL team. According to ESPNcricinfo, the RCB skipper would need to undergo the mandatory week-long quarantine put in place by the IPL as part of the guidelines to operate in the bio-secure environment. On Monday, Kohli quit the bubble in Pune and would thus need to undergo the quarantine before entering the IPL bio-bubble.

‘Scheduling needs to be looked at in future’

Virat Kohli, on Sunday, stated that the administrators need to look after the scheduling as he pointed out that staying in bio-bubbles for long period would be difficult in the coming days. The India skipper has been part of bio-secure bubbles since the end of January for the series against England. Kohli had also spent the last five months of 2020 in bio-bubble for the IPL and the tour of Australia.

Kohli will now spend nearly two months in another bio-bubble for IPL before he enters into another one soon after ahead of the departure to England in June for the World Test Championship final. It would be followed by the Test series in England and then the busy home season that includes the T20 World Cup.

“Scheduling needs to be looked at in future, because playing in bubbles for so long, two to three months, is going to be very, very difficult going forward. You can’t expect everyone to be at the same level of mental strength. Sometimes you do get cooked and you do feel like a bit of a change. I am sure things will be discussed and things will change in the future as well. But a different tournament, it brings fresh challenges heading into the IPL,” Kohli had said at the post-match presentation on Sunday.