Anxious Indian players eager to join IPL bubble at the earliest | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: As the final Test in Manchester got called off due to a Covid scare, the Indian team heaved a sigh of relief. But there is still an underlying anxiety in the camp. The players are now eager to join their respective IPL franchises at the earliest in UAE for the second half of the IPL which is due to begin on Sept 19.
TOI understands the players are already in talks with the franchises to make arrangements for their earliest extraction from UK. The Indian and English players were supposed to move in a bubble post the Test on Sept 15. It has now emerged that the Indian players would rather prefer to get into a stricter bubble as soon as possible.
“Chennai Super Kings have already swung into action to make arrangements for their players to leave by Saturday or Sunday. Mumbai Indians are trying to arrange charter flights for its players. The other players are talking to their franchises to make arrangements,” a BCCI source told TOI on Friday.

The Indian players are kept in isolation in the hotel in Manchester. There is no housekeeping. They get food from room service. They will have to be in isolation till departure. “Technically, there had been no bubble during the series. The players will have to serve a six-day quarantine upon reaching UAE. So, the earlier they leave Manchester the less time they will have to spend in isolation. The franchises will take better care of the players. We are working with every stakeholder and BCCI to make the arrangements,” a franchise official told TOI.
It’s been a strenuous 48 hours for the players. TOI has learnt that the players could barely sleep on Thursday night and they were up till at least three in the morning in anticipation of what the two boards will decide. The team members were about families and little kids travelling with them. No amount of assurances from the English board could dispel the apprehensions.

“The team would not have been so reluctant play if any member from the operations team would have tested positive. Almost all the players had been in close contact with physio Yogesh Parmar. One must remember Parmar tested positive four days after Shastri, Arun and Sridhar. The players had decided amongst themselves that it was important to break the chain of infection with the IPL and T20 World Cup coming up on the bounce. The players feared if they kept mingling with each other, there was a risk of the cases multiplying every two-three days,” the BCCI source said
“These players have been in bubbles for a year now. Nobody wants to have days of isolation piling on them. Even if you are fully vaccinated, you are capable of spreading the infection. If the parents got infected, it would have been difficult to look after the little kids. The players are grateful to BCCI for taking this stand for them,” the source claimed.