Virat Kohli to undergo quarantine after reaching Chennai on April 1 for IPL 2021

Skipper Virat Kohli will be joining the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) camp on April 1 in Chennai for the upcoming IPL 2021 that gets underway on April 9. RCB will be taking on the defending champions and five-time winners Mumbai Indians in the curtain-raiser at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Sources in the know of development confirmed to ANI that Kohli left the Pune bubble created for the ODI series against England on Monday, and as a result, upon his arrival in Chennai, Kohli will undergo quarantine for seven days as per BCCI's standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the IPL amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

'Kohli will be joining RCB's camp on April 1': Sources

"Kohli will be joining RCB's camp on April 1 in Chennai, then he will undergo quarantine for seven days," the source confirmed to ANI.

As per the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI)'s SOPs for IPL 2021, all players (except for those from the India-England series), support staff, and management entering the bubble need to undergo a seven-day quarantine in their hotel rooms. Every individual will be tested multiple times during this period, and upon returning the negative results, they will be allowed to come out of their rooms and commence outdoor training and practice sessions. 

Since Kohli has left the bubble created in Pune, he will now be required to undergo mandatory seven-day quarantine.

RCB in IPL 2021

The dark horses will be hoping to make IPL 2021 a memorable one by finally laying their hands on the elusive silverware that has eluded them since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. RCB had made it to the finals thrice (2009, 2011, & 2016) editions respectively only to finish as the second-best side on all three occasions. 

The Virat Kohli-led side had put up a good show in 2020 as a result of which they made it to the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 edition by finishing fourth in the league stages. 

AB de Villiers scored a valiant half-century (56) in the Eliminator against southern rivals as well as former champions Hyderabad. He hardly received any support from the other end as Bangalore were restricted to 131/7 in their 20 overs. 

In the end, it was just not enough as the Orange Army got past the finish line in the final over by six wickets as the three-time finalists were knocked out of the competition.