BCCI announces the step-by-step guidance for the team India players for the World Test Championship(WTC) finals.
Indian players will undergo three RT-PCR tests before assembling in Mumbai on May 19 if they return negative tests. The players will then quarantine for 14 days before departing to England on June 2, if they stay COVID19 negative.
BCCI Guidelines for WTC Finals
The agency also quoted a BCCI official about the vaccination plan for the players. Many players, including captain Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, have already taken the vaccine.
“The Indian government has opened vaccination for every person above 18 so the players can take their first dose. But the second dose is the question here and while the BCCI is looking at working closely with England and Wales Cricket Board to ensure players can get a second dose in the UK, if that is not approved by the UK government, we will have the vaccine taken from India for the second dose. Let’s see how that works out in the coming days.”
The players can arrive in Mumbai by either flight or road. The BCCI will reportedly not arrange a charter flight for anyone who is found to have contracted the virus.
“The players have been informed to consider their tour over if they are found positive on their arrival in Mumbai as BCCI will not arrange another charter flight for any cricketer,” The Indian Express had earlier quoted a source as saying.
As many as 20 players including four standby players have been picked for the tour. One of the standby bowlers, Prasidh Krishna, had tested positive for COVID-19 at the fag end of the now-suspended IPL 2021. It is expected that the KKR bowler will be fit by the time the team departs.
India’s squad for WTC Final and England Tests
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
