'Teen din tak hum ek dusre se mil nahi sakte hai' - Indian players not allowed to meet each other for three days in Southampton

Indian teams, both men and women, landed in Southampton on 3rd June, having served their mandatory quarantine in Mumbai before flying to the destination in a charter plane. All players are required to serve a three-day hard quarantine and will be allowed to train once the said period is finished.

India’s women’s team will play the one-off Test against England at Bristol from June 16-20, before heading into the limited-overs series comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is. The men’s team is preparing to take on New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship.

A five-Test series will follow against hosts England, starting from August 4th at Trent Bridge. The following Tests will be played at Lord’s (August 12-16), Headingley (August 25-29), the Oval (September 2-6), and the Emirates Old Trafford (September 10-14). India’s WTC rivals New Zealand are currently involved in a series of two Tests against England, the first of which is being played at Lord’s from June 2.

Before either of the Indian teams get in action, spinner Axar Patel has revealed that the team members will not be allowed to either meet each other or practice until the three-day quarantine is met. “I had a good sleep…the plan is to quarantine. We have been told that we can’t meet each other for three days so we will be quarantining for that much time,” said Axar in a video posted by BCCI capturing the team’s journey to England via a charter flight.

Indian players’ families accompanying them for the tour

The families of all players and support staff were given clearance by the UK Government for the tour, more so as the men’s team’s tour is nearly four months long. Notably, India was on the red list of countries of the UK government and the travel was banned, given the massive Covid-19 second wave that it just withstood.

That said, the strict protocols must be adhered to by all the players and the families as well. A bio-secure environment has been prepared by the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the players will be regularly tested during the period of isolation and later on as well. Meanwhile, all of the BCCI top brass including president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah will not be in attendance for the WTC final owing to ECB’s strict and non-negotiable quarantine guidelines.

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Excitement is building up as #TeamIndia arrive in England 🙌 👌 pic.twitter.com/FIOA2hoNuJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 4, 2021