IPL 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings To Leave For UAE On August 21

With the dates and venue for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 finalised, the teams are all geared up for the competition. The thirteenth edition of the tournament is scheduled to take place from September 19 to November 10. IPL 2020 will be held entirely in UAE because of the coronavirus situation in India.

Earlier this month, the BCCI got the green light from the central government to move the tournament outside the country. All the eight franchises are now all set to leave for UAE. The BCCI has already informed the teams that they can leave the country only after August 20.

And the franchises are wasting no time in traveling to UAE after August 20. Kolkata Knight Riders will be among the first teams to reach the UAE to begin their preparations for this year’s Indian Premier League, according to a report in The Telegraph.

As per the news outlet, the Dinesh Karthik-led franchise with its Indian players and support staff will be flying out of Mumbai on August 20/21 and will be staying at The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal.

Spread over 57 acres, the hotel overlooks the Grand Canal and the Knight Riders are expected to reserve almost the entire property as per IPL norms. Players and team support staff, who will be present during practice sessions, will have to operate within the protocols of the bio-secure environment.

They will have to go through a six-day quarantine process on reaching the UAE, which includes tests on Days I, III and VI. If all three tests are negative, they will enter and remain within the bio-secure environment for the entire 53-day window from September 19 to November 10.

“Team members must be allotted rooms in a separate wing of the hotel that has a separate centralised air conditioning unit than the rest of the hotel,” according to the Standard Operating Procedures.

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings’ departure dates:

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will be leaving for the UAE soon too. Both the franchise are expected to land in UAE on August 21. While Mumbai Indians will be staying at St Regis, Sadiyat Island (Abu Dhabi), the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led franchise will park themselves at Taj Dubai.

At present, Chennai Super Kings are holding a pre-season camp with the Indian players of the franchise in Chennai. The camp will conclude on August 20. Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh and Shardul Thakur will, however, not attend the camp because of “personal reasons”.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians’ home players have already started honing their skills at Reliance’s corporate facility in Navi Mumbai. The rest of the Indian players are expected to assemble by Monday.

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