Families of Indian players given clearance to fly to England

The UK Government has cleared the families of Indian players, coaching and support staff to fly to the UK along with the squad.

The tour is expected to stretch to almost four months for the men's team who will first play New Zealand in the World Test Championship final before taking on hosts England in five Test-match series. The women's team are set to play a historic Test match at Bristol which will be followed by three ODIs and three T20Is.

📸 📸: #TeamIndia's new Test kit ahead of the #ENGvIND Test!@M_Raj03 | @JhulanG10 | @ImHarmanpreet | @mandhana_smriti pic.twitter.com/KmJyXqdOBk

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) May 30, 2021

As per ESPNCricinfo, the families of the squad members will be onboard the same charter flight that is set to land in London on June 3. Both squads are then scheduled to head to Southampton to serve their mandatory quarantine period, the duration of which is still unclear.

The men's team will resume training at the Ageas Bowl in a controlled manner post the isolation period while the women's team will travel to Bristol, the venue of their one-off test against England.

"Regular tests will be conducted during the period of isolation. Players' activity will be allowed in a gradually increasing manner after each round of negative testing, moving from exercise in isolation to small group and then larger squad activity, whilst always remaining within the bio-secure venue," the ICC stated in a media release.

Currently, as per the issued guidelines, both squads are spending 14 days in a bio-secure environment in Mumbai.

Preps in full swing as #TeamIndia sweat it out in the gym ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final 💪💪👊 - by @RajalArora Full video 📽️👉 https://t.co/qDCuAC5Xvd pic.twitter.com/vggs9WuT0r

— BCCI (@BCCI) May 31, 2021

India v New Zealand WTC Final granted exemption from standard covid protocols by UK Government - ICC

The WTC Final will be played between India and New Zealand

Earlier, on May 29, the ICC announced that the UK Government had exempted the WTC Final from standard covid protocols. The exemption is thought to be significant, especially since the UK Government has put India on a 'red list' of countries from where all travel is barred.

The World Test Championship Final is scheduled to begin on June 18 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.