BCCI doing away with bubble life with domestic tournaments this month

No quarantine, only frequent RTPCR tests in U19 KOs and women's T20s starting April 18NEW DELHI: The rigours of staying in bio-bubbles may soon be a thing of the past in cricket. TOI has learned that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has decided to carry out an experiment with two domestic tournaments this month. The U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy knockouts and the senior women's T20 trophy are slated to start from April 18.

According to sources, the teams have been told that the players wouldn't have to undergo mandatory quarantine upon reaching the host cities for the tournament. This will be the first instance in Indian cricket since the Covid-19 pandemic began that teams will be playing without staying in a bio-bubble. However, there will be frequent RTPCR tests to keep a check on an outbreak.

According to the itinerary shared by BCCI, teams can assemble at venues three days (April 15) before their matches and start practice the next day itself. This has come at a time when the pandemic has seemed to have relented and the daily cases have come down to the initial days of the pandemic in April 2020. However, BCCI has encouraged Covid-appropriate behaviour and put the onus on the teams.

Teams will be kept in a designated part of the hotel and players are not encouraged to mingle with people outside the tournament participants. The board has also restricted the numbers of venues as it still wants to cut down on travel which could increase the risk of players getting infected. With this, one may expect the teams to name 15 players plus the standbys instead of 18 players plus standbys.