Dubai: Defending champions Mumbai Indians have laid out their own safety protocols before leaving for the UAE to take part in the 13th edition of the league in September-November.
“The domestic players have started to arrive and they all are sent into a 14-day quarantine wherein the only time they are allowed to exit the room is when they need to get their test done. Apart from that, all facilities are being provided inside the rooms,’’ a Mumbai Indians official was quoted by IANS.
The Indian stars like captain Rohit Sharma, allrounder Hardik Pandya - who has recently become a father - are set to join them in the next 7-8 days as they gear up for event.
“The India players are also expected to come in soon and they too will go through the quarantine phase. As and when a player’s quarantine period is over, he is then given the go-ahead to start training at our ground,” the official explained.
Standard Operating Procedure
Asked about the testing part, the official explained that there will be five rounds of testing for the MI players by the time they take the plane to UAE.
The squad is planning to leave by the third week of August, though they are still waiting for the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) from the BCCI, which is believed to be a document running into 240-odd pages.
“We have asked all the players to undergo two rounds of testing in their home city before they come to Mumbai. Here, we will do another three rounds of testing which we believe is good enough. There might be one or two cases wherein a player might not have had adequate facilities at home and managed to get just one test instead of two. But all in all, we are looking at five rounds of tests before heading to play the IPL for the players as well as the support staff,” the official pointed.
“We are waiting for the SOP from the BCCI, but we do understand that these are unforeseen times and the pressure is already that much more on the board. We also have prepared our roadmap on how we are looking to approach the tournament and will integrate it with the SOP which the BCCI is expected to give us in the next couple of days. Patience is the key as nobody was prepared for such a turn of events,” he added.
