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Curran, Hazlewood's availability for IPL 13 opener to be known on Friday: CSK CEO

Raj Kantak Sep 17, 2020

Dubai [UAE], September 17 (ANI): After days of speculation, the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council on Thursday informed the franchises that the English and Australian players coming from the UK will only need to quarantine for 36 hours before they can join their teams and play in the league.
But with Chennai Super Kings taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians in the season opener on Saturday, the MS Dhoni-led side will await the COVID-19 tests of their star players -- Sam Curran and Josh Hazlewood -- on Friday morning before deciding if they can play the opener.
"They come in tonight and will be in isolation till a test is conducted tomorrow. If they test negative, they can then be available for selection for the opening game in Abu Dhabi," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told ANI.
Mumbai Indians on the other hand have no such issues as none of their players were a part of the England-Australia series that ended on Wednesday.
For a number of days, the quarantine period for players from Australia and England was a subject of a question. Earlier, some franchises had said that the players from both sides won't have to quarantine themselves as they would be coming from a bio-secure bubble in the UK.
The upcoming IPL is slated to be played from September 19-November 10 in the UAE across three venues --Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011, 2018) and now the side would be looking to add the fourth title to its kitty. The side will be without the services of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh this year as both players opted out of the tournament due to personal reasons.
CSK was the last team to begin training as the side finally returned to the field last week after their third round of coronavirus tests. The team had a dodgy start to their campaign in the UAE as some members of the camp tested positive for COVID-19 and the entire contingent had to quarantine themselves for longer than expected. (ANI)