Reports | BCCI asks franchises to delay travel by a week; teams might fly on August 20

But in what has come as a slight hindrance to the preparation of the franchises ahead of the T20 extravaganza, the BCCI has reportedly asked teams to delay their travel plans at least by a week. While it was initially believed that teams were planning to fly out to the UAE in the second week of August, according to a TOI report, the BCCI has asked the franchises to delay their travel by a week and not fly to UAE at least until August 20, in order to coordinate with the UAE government and ensure that all protocols are in place. A franchise official lauded the BCCI’s decision and stated that it was important for the franchises to cooperate fully with the BCCI due to the sheer complexity of the whole situation.

"We see logic in BCCI’s decision. They have to put certain protocols in place and coordinate with the UAE government to ensure that they will be followed to the ‘T’. For instance, we’ll be travelling by road between cities – Dubai to Sharjah to Abu Dhabi. So, will we be checked at all departure and entry points? How will two franchises – who have their separate bio-secure bubbles – coordinate with each other’s protocols on match days? BCCI has a lot on its hands and they can expect our full cooperation," team officials told TOI.

"They (players) will be in complete isolation. It can be very depressing. Family members are okay to travel as long as they will be part of the same bio-secure bubble.”