A three-day hard quarantine in the hotel room followed by a negative test on the fourth day will be mandatory before teams can enter the IPL bubble, according to the quarantine protocol distributed by IPL to the franchises on Thursday.
During the three-day quarantine, everyone who is part of the bubble will need to do in-room testing, with each test being 24-hours apart. All participants will need to continue doing the daily test for the next three days (until day six). "After the completion of three days (72 hours) of quarantine, the test will be done on fourth day and once the negative report comes, the participant can enter the bubble," the IPL protocol document states.
That rule, though, would not apply for all those coming into the IPL bubble from another bubble - bilateral series, franchise preparatory camp, domestic tournament, national camp - as long as participants commute on a charter flight or by road. Several players are scheduled to join the IPL bubble directly after participating in various bilateral series in March-April, including India's tour of Sri Lanka, Australia's tour of Pakistan, England's tour of West Indies and Bangladesh's tour of South Africa.
In case the participants break out from the previous bubble, they would then need to do three-day quarantine and clear the test on day four before joining the IPL bubble. All participants in India will also need to undergo twin tests in the preceding 48 hours before they enter the quarantine. In the case of overseas participants, it would be two tests in the preceding 72 hours.
All the ten teams are busy getting ready to start their own bubble as they commence their preparatory camps, most of which will be in Mumbai where the bulk of the league phase - 55 out of 70 matches - will be played. Teams like Chennai Super Kings will train in Surat and Ahmedabad Titans will have a short camp in Ahmedabad before heading to Mumbai where the IPL has organised multiple venues for training in addition to the three that will host the tournament - the Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Sports Academy.
"If the teams are holding any camp prior to arrival in Mumbai, then the same quarantine protocols will apply," the document said. "While traveling to Mumbai, bubble to bubble transfer is possible by charter flights or road travel, such that the bubble is maintained at all times. On arrival test will be done in Mumbai and till the time results comes out the participants to be quarantined in their respective rooms. If the bubble to bubble transfer is not carried out or pre-camp quarantine as above is not done then on arrival in Mumbai, all the participants will have to undergo quarantine as per the protocols. There should be zero contact at the airport."