Virat Kohli and co. get massive relief thanks to BCCI ahead of WTC Final 2021; here is how

India are set to tour England where they will compete in the World Test Championship Final (WTC final) against New Zealand followed by a five-match Test series against the hosts. The tour was under some serious doubt because of India being on the UK"s red list due to the grave COVID-19 situation in India. According to the UK government rules, people with a travel history to India were not allowed to travel to the UK and the BCCI was negotiating a way to keep the WTC Final and the England Tour alive.

India vs New Zealand: Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI manages to negotiate travel restrictions in UK

According to a recent report, the BCCI has successfully managed to negotiate relaxation to travel restrictions in the UK. The board, who has already readied the Indian squad to leave for the UK, needed an official seal from the UK government which has now come as Virat Kohli's men gear up to travel to England for a three-month-long tour.

The Indian team will come together in Mumbai on May 19 and will enter the bio-bubble on May 24 before leaving for England on June 2. After reaching England on June 3, the India squad for WTC Final will undergo a hard quarantine in their hotel in Southampton before they feature in the India vs New Zealand WTC final starting June 18.

Considering players' safety and safe passage to Mumbai, the BCCI has arranged charter flights from Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai. Bengaluru-based players will have to drive to Chennai and board the flight. On the other hand, players like Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami who live in Kolkata, will need to take a commercial flight to travel to Mumbai. Likewise for players from Gujarat, as well as other cities which are far from the three aforementioned pick-up points.

Moreover, considering the three-month-long tour, cricketers' families will also join them on the flight to the UK and they have also been asked to join the bio-bubble in Mumbai. Bearing in mind the length of the tour, the Sourav Ganguly-led board is currently negotiating their entries as well.

The Indian team will have eight days of hard quarantine (confined to hotel rooms) in Mumbai with mandatory negative RT-PCR reports on the second, fourth and seventh day required to board the flight. If a player tests positive, it is unlikely that he will be able to travel to England. Notably, the women’s team will also board the same charter flight on June 2 for their solitary Test and three-match ODIs and T20Is that will begin on June 16.

India squad for WTC Final 

Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wk; subject to fitness clearance). 

Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla

SOURCE: ICC TWITTER