Two-time IPL runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have departed for Dubai from Bengaluru on Sunday ahead of the second leg of IPL 2021 in UAE. They become the sixth franchise to leave for the gulf country ahead of the start of the tournament on September 19. The franchise posted pictures on social media before the team boarded the flight to Dubai. “The RCB family en route UAE!

Indian pacer Navdeep Saini tweeted a picture of him with his RCB teammates Devdutt Padikkal and Shubhang Hegde, captioning it ‘back benchers’. Other members like Mohammed Azharuddin and Sachin Baby shared their pictures from the flight. The Indian players along with support staff and management underwent a six-day quarantine in Bengaluru from August 21. After landing in Dubai, the team will undergo another six days of quarantine before hitting the ground for training.

The franchise has signed the Sri Lankan duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera apart from Singapore’s Tim David and England’s George Garton as replacement players. With Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Finn Allen, and Scott Kuggeleijn unavailable for the second leg of IPL 2021, the quartet was roped in as replacements by RCB.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will resume their campaign in IPL 2021 on September 20 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. They are currently in third place in the points table with five wins and two losses in seven matches.

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Punjab Kings also leave for remainder IPL 2021

IPL 2014 runners-up Punjab Kings have left for Dubai from Mumbai on Sunday. After reaching the city, they will undergo the mandatory six-day hotel quarantine before starting their training for the second leg of IPL 2021. The franchise took to social media to share the pictures of their players Shahrukh Khan, Mandeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, head coach Anil Kumble and batting coach Wasim Jaffer in travel gear inside the flight before taking off for Dubai.

On Saturday, the Indian players, support staff, and management of the team had assembled in Mumbai before their departure to UAE. Punjab will be the fifth franchise to land in the gulf country ahead of the remaining matches of IPL 2021.

Earlier, Punjab had signed Australian pacer Nathan Ellis and England spinner Adil Rashid as replacements for the Australian pace duo of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith for the UAE leg of IPL 2021. This will be the first stint in the IPL for both Ellis and Rashid. Punjab is currently ranked sixth in the points table with three wins and five losses in eight matches. They will start their IPL campaign against Rajasthan Royals on September 21 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Delhi Capital began their traing at UAE, after quarantine.

IPL 2020 runners-up Delhi Capitals began their first training session after completing the mandatory six-day quarantine in Dubai. The Indian players, support staff, and management had reached Dubai from New Delhi on August 21. The franchise took to social media to share pictures of the players training at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Saturday evening after the quarantine period was over. They also posted a video of Shreyas Iyer coming down the pitch and hitting a six. Other members like Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Lukman Meriwala, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Pravin Dubey, and Siddharth Manimaran were seen practicing as well.

Iyer, who had missed the first leg of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury, was already in Dubai to prepare for the second leg of the tournament scheduled to begin on September 19 in the UAE. Iyer had been practicing with assistant coach Pravin Amre for two weeks before the team arrived in Dubai.

During the first ODI against England in March, Iyer had sustained a shoulder injury that needed surgery and missed the remainder of the series and the first half of IPL 2021 in India. In his absence, Rishabh Pant led the team till the second wave of COVID-19 halted the tournament. Delhi is currently the table toppers with six wins and two losses from eight matches. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were the first to reach UAE and began training sessions ahead of the tournament.

The second leg of the IPL 2021 will begin with Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 19. Delhi will resume its campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue on September 22.