IPL 2021: AB de Villiers joins RCB bubble in Chennai ahead of tournament

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Thursday informed that star batsman AB de Villiers has joined its team bubble in Chennai ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).

RCB posted a photo of de Villiers on Twitter and the franchise captioned the post as: "BREAKING THE INTERNET. The spaceship has landed! AB de Villiers has joined the RCB bubble in Chennai."

Later in the day, skipper Virat Kohli will also be joining the team bubble in Chennai.

Earlier, sources in the know of development had confirmed to ANI that Kohli left the Pune bubble created for the ODI series against England on Monday, and as a result, upon his arrival in Chennai, Kohli will undergo quarantine for seven days as per BCCI's standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the IPL amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Kohli will be joining RCB's camp on April 1 in Chennai, then he will undergo quarantine for seven days," the source confirmed to ANI.

As per BCCI's SOPs for IPL 2021, all players (except for those from the India-England series), support staff, and management entering the bubble need to undergo a seven-day quarantine in their hotel rooms. Every individual will be tested multiple times during this period, and upon returning the negative results, they will be allowed to come out of their rooms and commence outdoor training and practice sessions.

RCB is set to play the IPL 2021 opener against Mumbai Indians on April 9 in Chennai. After India defeated England in the three-match ODI series, Kohli had talked about the challenges of bio-bubble life and he admitted that it would be difficult for players to continue for long in this environment.

"Scheduling needs to be looked at in the future, because playing in bubbles for so long, two to three months, is going to be very, very difficult going forward. 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, it brings fresh challenges heading into the IPL," Kohli had told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.

Bowlers Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj had joined RCB camp on Monday after finishing national duty for India.