Reports | England and Australia players might miss IPL 2020’s first week owing to UAE's travel protocols
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow might miss out the first week of the IPL
|With England’s limited-overs series against Australia coming to an end on September 16, reports have suggested that they would be forced to miss one week of IPL action owing to self-quarantine. Eoin Morgan, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and David Warner might miss the first week of the IPL in UAE.
Following the COVID-19 forced break for International cricket, the sport is slowly coming back to the fore with England’s Test series against West Indies. Following that, limited-overs cricket too has made a return with Ireland touring England for a three-match series. On top of that, England’s next two series is against Pakistan and Australia.
Whilst they would facing the visiting Asian side in Tests and T20Is, they would welcome Australia for a full-fledged limited-overs series. On top of that, just last week, the BCCI announced their plans to host the 2020 edition of the IPL in UAE. However, owing to the restrictions over Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for overseas travellers, they will have to undergo a compulsory week of quarantine before completing two COVID-19 tests.
With England’s series against Australia ending late on September 16 and the IPL set to begin on 19th, both sets of players would have to undergo a compulsory week of quarantine which will rule them out of IPL’s first week. Eoin Morgan, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and David Warner are some of the big names that might very well miss if their sides play in the opening week.
On the other hand, the Caribbean Premier League action will end a week before IPL kicks-off whilst the Sri Lankan Premier League will be on still the middle of September.
"Player availability is not the concern any more. It's about getting them to UAE and seeing them through the quarantine window," say those in the know, reported TOI.
