Virat Kohli and other Mumbai-based cricketers undergoing seperate quarantine, to train in hotel room itself: report

Members of the Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams reached Mumbai on Wednesday and went into a mandatory quarantine ahead of their trip to the United Kingdom. However, the rules are different for players based in Mumbai, such as Virat Kohli.

The men’s team are scheduled to play the World Test Championship final and a five-match Test series against England. The women’s team will play a one-off Test, three ODIs and as many T20Is.

Quarantine has become a regular part of sports now. The athletes need to keep themselves motivated and also work on their fitness while staying in quarantine. 

As far as the men’s team is concerned, captain Virat Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, opening batsman Rohit Sharma and head coach Ravi Shastri joined the team hotel on May 24.

With the quartet residing in Mumbai itself, they had to undergo a strict quarantine at home till Monday.

“Virat Kohli and the rest of the members who entered the bubble on Monday will not straightaway mix with those who are already in the bubble,” a BCCI source told ANI.

“They will do a 7-day quarantine and then join the group before leaving for England. Till then, they will have all the necessary facilities in their rooms only.”

Additionally, arrangements are made for players to train in their rooms. “Arrangements have been made so that they can train in the room.

“Cycles, dumbbells, bars have all been arranged for in the rooms so that they doesn’t need to walk out and can stay in shape.”

CHARTER FLIGHTS FOR PLAYERS FLYING IN

The BCCI deployed three charter flights – from Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai – for the cricketers. Those who are not in these three cities were supposed to take a private car and reach the destinations for their respective flights.

The Board also flew in some players and support staff from Chennai and Hyderabad.

This includes Mithali Raj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, R. Sridhar, Bharat Arun. They will reach Mumbai by a chartered flight on Wednesday.

Safety protocols for Virat Kohli & co

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, all the players will have to return three negative COVID-19 tests before boarding the flight to Mumbai.

The testing will continue to happen during the hotel quarantine in Mumbai especially before leaving for England. There’s a strong possibility of both the teams traveling together in a charter flight to England on June 2.

With both the team hotel and ground being at the same place in Southampton, it wouldn’t be a hard quarantine. The visitors will be allowed to train in a “controlled” fashion.