IPL 2020: The reason why Virat Kohli didn't travel to the UAE with the RCB squad

With the IPL 2020 fever taking over, the fans are already excited about the tournament. Over the last couple of days, franchises have been quite active on social media with various updates. Most of the teams have already reached the United Arab Emirates, the place where the IPL 2020 will be played. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), too, put up a picture on Friday where the entire team was seen travelling together. However, skipper Virat Kohli was nowhere to be seen.

UAE calling! ✈️🇦🇪

The Royal Challengers are all set to take-off!

Drop a ❤️ if you’re happy to see the RCB fam together again! #PlayBold #TravelDays #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/nHLj6TUegV

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) August 21, 2020

Every player and support staff was present in this picture. The eagle-eyed fans skimmed and scanned through the picture several times. But to their surprise, they couldn’t find their beloved cricketer. Thus, they raised a lot of questions in the comments section. Just a few hours later, RCB posted a picture where the 31-year-old was seen posing in the backdrop of UAE. Virat himself put up that picture too. Yet, the question of why Virat Kohli wasn’t together with the squad remained as it is.

You’ve all been asking! So there you go. Captain Kohli is in the house! 🤩👍🏻#PlayBold #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/gI0ypUHoxP

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) August 21, 2020

Virat Kohli couldn’t join the squad on the flight due to bio-safety issues

Before flying to the UAE, all the RCB players arrived in Bengaluru for a short camp. This is where they quarantined themselves and entered the bio-secure bubble. However, the franchise’s skipper didn’t join the team in Bengaluru. He decided to stay back in Mumbai and quarantine himself in the Financial Capital.

Thus, to stick to the norms of the bio-secure bubble, Virat Kohli couldn’t join the team on the flight to Dubai. Instead, he flew alone by a charter flight to the UAE as per the reports in Bangalore Mirror. The report further stated the Kohli didn’t want to put himself in any sort of a risk due to the ongoing pandemic situation. Moreover, the skipper also tested himself for Covid-19 in Mumbai itself before flying to the UAE.

“He had quarantined himself in Mumbai and also tested himself for Covid-19. So he could not come to Bengaluru. He flew alone by a charter flight from Mumbai,” a spokesperson of the franchise was quoted as saying by the news outlet.