Ahmedabad: Following BCCI's announcement on the suspension of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, the management of Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday said that it has ensured that every member of the travelling contingent reaches home safely.
"We worked in consultation with BCCI and the respective cricket boards to ensure the safe return of all our personnel to their homes. There are stringent SOPs put in place by us, for those who are transiting from central hubs to their respective cities," RCB said in an official statement.
"We will be in constant touch with them till they reach home and continue to offer support to our personnel whenever necessary," he added.
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Working with guidance from BCCI, RCB said that all domestic players, staff and management have been charted to specific pre-identified hubs and then connected to their respective cities.
The Australian players and staff will complete a mandatory quarantine period in a hotel arranged by RCB in the Maldives and, will continue to be in touch with Cricket Australia on SOPs.
The New Zealand players and staff are on a special charter to Auckland and will be in touch with New Zealand Cricket on SOPs
The South African players and staff are travelling to Johannesburg via Mumbai and Doha and will be in touch with Cricket South Africa on SOPs.
The safety of every individual involved in the IPL was one of the major reasons for the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council to unanimously decide on the postponement of the league on Tuesday.
"The BCCI and the IPL GC have unanimously decided to postpone the 2021 season till further notice. We don't wish to compromise the safety of the players, the people involved, the employees, the groundsmen, the match officials, every single person involved," Jay Shah told ANI.
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On Tuesday, SunRisers Hyderabad wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha tested positive after there were COVID-19 cases in two franchises on Monday. While two of the members of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) contingent tested positive, two Kolkata Knight Riders players tested positive -- Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier -- forcing the BCCI to postpone the KKR-RCB game in Ahmedabad.
With Saha testing positive, the game on Tuesday evening between SRH and defending champions Mumbai Indians also needed to be postponed. This made matters worse as the game between RCB and KKR had already been postponed and the game between CSK and Rajasthan Royals was also set to be called off as the Chennai unit was in strict quarantine. This finally saw the BCCI postpone the IPL.
