This story is from April 08, 2021
Royal Challengers Bangalore
(RCB) skipper Virat Kohli gave a pep talk to his teammates, asking the new recruits to show intensity on the field even during practice sessions.The 14th edition of the world's biggest T20 franchise cricket tournament -- the Indian Premier League is all set to commence from April 9 with the defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener in Chennai. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
After conducting a successful 13th edition in the United Arab Emirates, the BCCI this time decided to go ahead with the tournament on home soil with 6 cities -- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, hosting the cricketing extravaganza. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
The players from the 8 different franchises began assembling at the venues post March 20, while the members of Team India, who were engaged in a bilateral series with England only joined their franchises after wrapping up the series after March 28. (Photo credit: MI Twitter)
After completing the necessary quarantine periods, the players and support staff joined their respective bio-secure bubbles and began training for the fiercest T20 franchise battle.(Photo credit: RCB Twitter)
While MI, RCB, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders have current bio-bubbles setup in Chennai. KKR moved to Chennai from Mumbai where their initial bubble was created. The other four teams -- Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings have their current bubbles in Mumbai for the first phase of the tournament. (Photo credit: CSK Twitter)
Maintaining mandatory Covid protocols, players began their hustle at the training facilities inside their bio-bubble while chalking out strategies with the support staff. (Photo credit: RR Twitter)
While Team India players had regular match practice -- coming into the tournament after playing a couple of bilateral series -- it was the domestic players, who had to sweat it out even more in the nets to get back into the groove for the tournament. Apart from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy, domestic players were not exposed to much match practice in the past 6 months. (Photo credit: KKR Twitter)
While domestic Indian players, Team India and England internationals began their preparations, the other foreigners too steadily arrived in India. After completing their quarantine successfully they too joined their respective squads. (Photo credit: RCB Twitter)
Players flew in from all parts of the world -- the Caribbean, Australia, England, Afghanistan, Bangladesh. A few international players (South Africa) left their international assignments midway to join their franchises in the IPL. (Photo credit: DC Twitter)
With a steep rise in COVID-19 cases across India, conducting this year's IPL will not be an easy task for the BCCI. Positive cases in different franchises have put the organisers and owners on their toes. With a few ground staff members, players and support staff members returning positive test results, there is some amount of nervousness. The protocols in the bio-bubbles have been made stricter to try and ensure there are no more positive cases. (Photo credit: AFP)