New Delhi: Good news for the Indian men’s and women cricket teams. Their families will be allowed to accompany them during their lengthy tour of England this month, a senior BCCI source revealed Tuesday. Similarly family members of the support staff will also be allowed to travel.
The BCCI had put in a request that the players be allowed the company of their loved ones to the ECB. This is because they have to spend a considerable amount of time in a bio-secure bubble because of Covid-19.
However, it is learnt that none of the BCCI office-bearers will be present for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton from June 18-22. BCCI office-bearers including Sourav Ganguly, will stay away due to the strict quarantine rules of England.
“Yes, it’s good news that players will have their families during the tour of United Kingdom. Ditto for the women’s team who can also have their families around. These are times when mental well-being of players is paramount,” a BCCI source said Tuesday. “The BCCI understands that we need our players and support staff to be in a good head space,” the source added.
However, he also informed that Ganguly and Shah, who were originally supposed to be in England for the WTC final, have not been given permission to avoid quarantine.
“As far as I know, the ECB didn’t grant permission to them (Ganguly and Shah). Normally, administrators go before the Test match but as per quarantine rules, they would have had to undergo hard quarantine of 10 days. The team rules wouldn’t be applicable as far as the president and secretary is concerned,” the official further added.
The Indian men’s and women’s teams will be leaving for Southampton after their London touchdown.
The Indian eves will play their one-off Test in Bristol from June 16-19. They will also do their hard quarantine in Southampton along with the men’s contingent at Hotel Hilton. The hotel is a part of the Hampshire Bowl property.
Both Indian teams have served a 14-day quarantine period (home plus hotel) in India. They have undergone six RT-PCR negative tests which allow them to board Wednesday the charter flight to London.
It is expected that they will have three days of hard quarantine (room)/ Then they can use the gymnasium as well as start their skills (net) training.
The 24-member men’s team are supposed to play an intra-squad three-day practice game to get into the groove.
