After conquering Down Under, the Indian Cricket Team is set to host the England team for a full tour of almost two months, across the three formats. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked the Indian players to take a Covid test before checking into the team hotel in Chennai. As per a report in Cricbuzz, team doctor Abhiji Salvi has instructed the players that they should enter the new bio-bubble with a negative result. The players have been given time till January 27 morning to complete the Covid formalities.
"We have been told to be in the hotel by 26th night or 27th morning," said a Team India member confirming the Covid instructions from the BCCI. Salvi will also be part of the contingent, as he was during the entire tour Down Under recently. The BCCI directive comes just days after the Indian players arrived from Australia, where they were in a bio bubble and on arrival in India, were all advised to be in home quarantine.Since entering the Team bubble in Dubai late October, the players have, by now, taken 15 Covid tests and the number would have to be tripled if one were to factor in the tests taken during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in UAE. Apart from taking tests every four days, the players had had to undergo tests 48 hours before every game in Abu Dhabi. They had close to 30 tests during their near three-month stay in UAE. Some members of the England team, including Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns, arrived in Chennai on Sunday (January 24) and have been in quarantine since.The England players from Galle, where Joe Root's team beat Sri Lanka on Monday, will fly in on Wednesday as per the pre-decided programme. The first Test starts on February 5. The four-match series is very important both for India and the England team as far as the World Test Championship (WTC) is concerned.
