There is a likelihood England and Australia players may not need to skip their teams' initial matches in the upcoming IPL as long as they undergo "stringent" testing processes once they land in the UAE. The group of players from both teams, which will be involved in a limited-overs series from September 2 to 16, will arrive in the UAE on September 17, according to Sanjeev Churiwala, Royal Challengers Bangalore's chairman.

There has been uncertainty over the participation of England and Australia players for the first few matches as the IPL had recently indicated to franchises that it was unlikely to relax the mandatory seven-day quarantine period that players had to undergo after arriving in the UAE. That period also includes team members clearing three tests before they can start training.

Keeping in mind the safety measures around the Covid-19 pandemic, the IPL Governing Council had laid down strict guidelines in its draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which were shared with the franchises.

As many as 29 England and Australia players are spread across the eight IPL squads. The worst hit could be Rajasthan Royals as some of their main players could be playing the bilateral series in England until September 16, such as Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes and Tom Curran. The Royals COO, Jake Lush McCrum, had recently said even though those players "may miss the first match due to the protocols", the franchise would benefit overall as the England-Australia players would be "competing against each other in a high-quality series right before the IPL which has many positives because it'll enable them to be at full match fitness."

More to follow...