AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn To Join RCB Squad In UAE On August 22

South African stars AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn will join the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) squad in UAE for the IPL 2020 at the end of the week. Squads have already started departing for IPL 2020 from today onwards KKR and KXIP are the first two sides to leave with CSK set to follow them.

According to a report in espncricinfo, Sanjeev Churiwala, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chairman, said that the Royal Challengers squad’s Indian contingent, led by their captain Virat Kohli, will land in Dubai on Friday. The squad, Churiwala pointed out, would also be joined by the South African trio of AB de Villiers, Chris Morris and Dale Steyn, who will fly out of South Africa this weekend. Sri Lanka pacer Isuru Udana, meanwhile, will join the squad on September 1.

The preparatory camp from August 29, with support staff receiving clearances to fly to the UAE and set to arrive soon.

“For the players landing after the England and Australia series, on September 17, that is very close to our matches,” Churiwala said. “The BCCI have also issued very detailed SOPs and procedures to be followed by these players in terms of their participation.

“What the SOPs say very clearly [is] that they can participate without quarantine, provided they satisfy certain very stringent conditions. And they’re very, very stringent. Very clearly after the players have played the [international] series, they have to continue to be in the biosecure bubble. Right from the biosecure bubble, they have to go straight to the charter flight without getting into the extensive migration procedures, and without getting in touch with the general public.”

Churiwala said if any member from the travelling group breached any protocol, that person would need to undergo the six-day quarantine upon landing in the UAE and clear three Covid-19 tests in that week before joining the squad, according to the report.

IPL will get underway from September 19 with the final being played on November 10. However, the final fixture for the lucrative tournament is still to be announced, with Mumbai Indians set to put their title on defense.