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India captain Virat Kohli opens up for the first time after cancelled 5th Test against England
Virat Kohli said it was ‘unfortunate’ that they had to leave without completing the series in England and land in UAE earlier than expected for the remainder of IPL 2021, which begins on September 19.
India captain Virat Kohli opened up for the first time after the fifth India vs England Test match in Manchester was cancelled due to Covid-19 fears in the Indian camp. Kohli and the other Indian cricketers flew to Dubai and Abi Dhabi early to join their respective IPL teams after the series-decider against England was called off.
Kohli said it was ‘unfortunate’ that they had to leave without completing the series in England and land in UAE earlier than expected for the remainder of IPL 2021, which begins on September 19.
“Unfortunate that we had to end up here early, but with COVID in place, things are very uncertain. Anything can happen at any time," Kohli said in ‘RCB Bold Diaries’ series on RCB Digital Media Platforms.
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RCB captain Kohli and bowler Mohammed Siraj arrived in UAE on Sunday (12 September) after RCB arranged safe transit for the players from Manchester to Dubai via a chartered flight. They will be quarantining for 6 days before they join the team for training.
Kohli expressed the need to maintain a secure bio bubble environment
"Hopefully, we're able to maintain a good, strong, and secure environment, and have a quality IPL. It's going to be an exciting phase and a very important one for us at RCB and then for the Indian team at the T20 World Cup,” he said.
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The fifth Test was cancelled after the Indian players reportedly expressed their unwillingness to take the field following the Covid positive result of India's assistant physio Yogesh Parmar on the eve of the Test match.
'RCB have top-quality replacements': Kohli
Kohli also spoke about the new additions in the team and said, "I've been in touch with everyone. We've had discussions over the last month or so, a little longer than that with the replacements, who's coming and who's not.
"Eventually, we ended up replacing our key players with some top-quality cricketers. Our key players will be missed, and they are a part of the family, but the people coming in as well have great skill sets, especially for these conditions. So, I'm very excited to see them, with the whole group at practice and certainly very excited to resume a very good season that started last time around."
Paceman Mohammed Siraj couldn’t contain his excitement while talking about the resumption of the IPL.
"I am joining the RCB family after so many days, so I am very excited. We are in a good position on the points table, so it's going to be fun. We have very good player replacements, so I'm looking forward to it."
Siraj also spoke about the impact playing in the UAE has had on his career in the past. “To be honest, my career picked up from here, so I'm excited to be back. In the series against Australia, I was the leading wicket-taker, and I am ready to take on a similar responsibility."
Royal Challengers Bangalore will kick-start their IPL 2021 resumption against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, September 20th, 2021, at Abu Dhabi.
