XtraTime Web Desk: Chennai Super Kings bowling consultant, Eric Simons said that the current Australian players who are playing in England needs to remain in isolation for 6 days after landing at UAE. This means the captain of Rajasthan Royals, Steve Smith and the captain of SunRisers Hyderabad, David Warner won’t be able to join the squad just after landing.
Along with Smith and Warner, Josh Hazelwood of Chennai Super Kings will head straight to UAE from UK after their third and final ODI against England on Wednesday. The players were in a bio-secure bubble throughout the limited-over series in England.
Simons seems strict as he said that there will be no leniency and the Australian cricketers week have to serve a minimum of six days in quarantine before joining their squad.
“We are hearing – although it’s not confirmed yet – that they will also have to self-isolate in their rooms for six days and produce negative tests on the first, third and sixth days before they can join us,” Simons wrote in his column for ‘Manners on Cricket’ website.
“We had hoped that they could all move from their current bio-secure bubbles into ours but it seems likely that there will be no ‘leniency’, which is understandable. Apart from our brilliant Indian players, led by the ageless MS Dhoni, we do have Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi in full training, so there’s no shortage of talent.”
The Australian cricketers are expected to arrive in the UAE on September 17, just two days before the start of the 13th edition of the world’s richest T20 tournament in Abu Dhabi.
Simons also said that the CSK players have to wear a smart health tracking device whenever they step out of hotel rooms.
“We were issued with tracking devices to be worn around our necks whenever we left our hotel rooms but our physiotherapist has been very creative in turning them into ‘watches’, so at least that doesn’t feel restrictive,” said the former South African coach.
Since their arrival in the UAE, CSK has been hit hard by Covid-19 with the team reporting as many as 13 positive cases, including two players.