Mumbai, March 23 Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) West Indies stars Andre Russell and Sunil Narine arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday and started their seven-day quarantine before the team's training camp commences for the 2021 Indian Premier League.
The duo flew in from the Caribbean to Mumbai via USA, the two-time IPL champions said in a statement.
"Whenever you think about the IPL, you think about India. So it's great to be back. Hopefully, we can have a better season than last year," said Narine.
"We are closer to you guys now, the games are in India," said Russell addressing the team's fans.
"Whether you guys are watching from home or the stands, we will be representing Purple and Gold. Now is the time when we are going to do what we do best, because we know the bubble. We're used to this situation, our mindset is already planned for this. Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo," he said.
Dinesh Karthik, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Vaibhav Arora and support staff including assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and assistant bowling coach Omkar Salvi were among the first set of people to arrive at the hotel on Saturday.
As per the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) guidelines, all players, support staff and management entering the bubble need to undergo a seven-day quarantine in their hotel rooms. Every individual will be tested multiple times during this period, and upon returning the necessary negative results, will be allowed to come out of their rooms and commence outdoor training and practice session.
The testing will continue as per BCCI's guidelines throughout the tournament, similar to how it was conducted last season in the UAE.
For those players involved in the upcoming India-England ODI series Eoin Morgan, Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna - the BCCI has made a provision allowing them a bubble-to-bubble transfer without having to serve a quarantine again.
None of the teams will be playing in their home venues this season and KKR will be playing their group stage matches in Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Bengaluru.
( With inputs from IANS )
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