Ajinkya Rahane and Co allowed to land in Mumbai, exempted from quarantine

India skipper Ajinkya Rahane

Team India, who flew out of Australia on Wednesday after winning the four-Test series, were forced to rejig their arrival plans only to revert to the original schedule late in the day.

mid-day has learnt that Ajinkya Rahane & Co will now land in Mumbai as per the original schedule and not in Chennai, which was the alternate plan suggested to avoid the seven-day quarantine in the city as per the government of Maharashtra mandate due to COVID-19.

Upon landing in Mumbai, the Indian contingent will undergo COVID-19 tests.

It is learnt that BCCI officials tried to get an exemption for the Indian players and support staff as they were already in a bio-secure bubble during the Australia tour, but the state government authorities initially refused any relaxation. However, later in the day, it was learnt that the government of Maharashtra decided to exempt the Indian team from the seven-day quarantine if everyone tests negative for COVID-19.

The players have to reportedly reassemble on January 27 in Chennai and go into another bio-secure bubble before the England series kicks off on February 5. Chepauk will host the first two Tests, while Ahmedabad's brand new Motera Stadium will host the remaining two Tests. The Indian team is returning from Australia via Dubai and recently there have been reports of people coming from UAE preferring to land in other cities and then returning to Mumbai via domestic flights to avoid the quarantine situation here.

Four players - skipper Ajinkya Rahane, vice-captain Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw and Shardul Thakur, and head coach Ravi Shastri hail from Mumbai.