Reports | Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav to fly to UK on special provision

Unlike initially feared, the duo of Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav are expected to fly to the United Kingdom later today. Sri Lanka being a ‘Red List’ country under the UK Government's travel advisory initially cast a shadow on the two players making it to England, but, according to a Cricbuzz report, Shaw and Suryakumar will be provided exemptions by the UK government. 

It is believed that, despite the UK only allowing travellers from Green List or Amber List countries, Shaw and Suryakumar will be allowed to enter the country due to being ‘Elite Sportspersons’. This, according to Cricbuzz, was the same rule that athletes participating in Euro 2020 and Wimbledon made use of, whilst entering the UK.

"The UK Government created Elite player exemption earlier this summer to help the Indian touring party travel in the first place. The same rule was used for other sports like football and tennis for the Euros and Wimbledon. And now that is being used for the two new players," a top ECB official told Cricbuzz on Friday.

However, the special permission wouldn’t exempt the two aforementioned cricketers from undergoing the mandatory 10-day quarantine. Upon arriving in the UK, both Shaw and Suryakumar will be required to undergo a 10-day quarantine, something that will effectively rule the duo out of the first two Tests in the series. The third Test starts on August 25 in Headingley, and both Suryakumar and Shaw are expected to be available for that contest.