The Royal Challengers are set to play their initial matches, including the IPL tournament opener on April 9 against defending champions Mumbai Indians, in the city. Virat Kohli will be joining his team Royal Challengers Bangalore squad on April 1. The team has already begun their training camp in Chennai. Kohli like all players will undergo the mandatory week-long quarantine to operate in the bio-secure environment. Kohli left the bubble in Pune on Monday after India's ODI series against England got over.
The schedule is full post the IPL, as India will depart to England in June for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand. India will return home to prepare for the T20 World Cup, to be played in October-November this year.
Kohli stressed the need to look at the scheduling by the administrators, considering player movements from one bubble to another in a challenging Covid-19 pandemic environment.
"Scheduling needs to be looked at in future, because playing in bubbles for so long, two to three months, is going to be very, very difficult going forward," Kohli said at the post-match presentation. "You can't expect everyone to be at the same level of mental strength.
"Sometimes you do get cooked and you do feel like a bit of a change. I am sure things will be discussed and things will change in the future as well. But a different tournament brings fresh challenges heading into the IPL."
Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj flew to Chennai from Pune on Monday afternoon. They would join the training on Tuesday. According to IPL guidelines, players travelling between bubbles can skip the quarantine and start training.
Most of the Royal Challengers reached Chennai last week. This group included the team director Mike Hesson, Sanjay Bangar, (appointed as an assistant coach from this season), along with fast bowler Navdeep Saini. Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers, too, reached Chennai over the weekend according to an ESPN Cricinfo article. This franchise finished 4th in the previous season and surely will bring their A-game to the tournament.