Jay Shah confirms there will be no bio-bubble from India vs South Africa 2022 series

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that India's upcoming home T20I series against South Africa will be conducted without a bio-bubble.

In his conversation with TOI, Jay Shah confirmed that the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) will be the country's last tournament to be played in a bio-bubble.

He added that players would still have to undergo tests for COVID-19. Shah said:

"If I’m not wrong, the bio-bubble for IPL-2022 was the last. For the India-SA series onwards, players will be tested (for covid), but will not be any bio-bubble."

Speaking about the challenges of playing in the bio-bubble, Shah stated that it does get difficult for the cricketers at times. However, he suggested that the players enjoyed themselves in the IPL 2022 bubble as they had their families with them and were also provided with a lot of facilities.

He added:

"Yes, it’s tough for the players. However, they got a family-like atmosphere inside the hotel bio-bubble. In the case of the IPL, we had hotels dedicated to each team. The whole tournament was held at one place. All the teams had their lounges, recreational centres (to relax and unwind). So, they also enjoyed it."

The Men in Blue are scheduled to play a five-match T20I series against South Africa in June. The series opener will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on June 9. Both sides have announced their squads for the the white-ball rubber.

India vs South Africa 2022 squads

India T20 squad: KL Rahul (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.

South Africa T20 squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen.