IPL 2021: RCB players begin training in UAE; Hesson gives updates upon arrival of big stars

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Abu Dhabi, Sep 6: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday (September 5) started training in Dubai, ahead of the second phase of the IPL 2021 after the completion of quarantine. The team hit the ground running with a football game to get players acclimatised to the weather in UAE.

Speaking about the first training session and highlighting updates about the arrival of players, Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket Operations and Head Coach, RCB said, "The 6th, 8th, and 10th (September) will be gym days. So, instead of us doing split groups like we did last time, we're all going to go as one group. The 7th, 9th, and 11th will be skill training. It gives you a day where you can work hard and then you can do your own S&C (Strength and Conditioning) and recover."

Hesson also gave updates about key overseas players like AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson and their arrival in the UAE.

"AB (de Villiers) is at the airport now, so he'll be on his way. Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) is sort of two or three days away, Kyle (Jamieson) will be here around the 10th, and then the guys will drip in from the different bubbles they are playing in throughout the world. We'll have 11 guys from our group by tomorrow, so we're halfway there."

Hesson also provided an update on players returning from the India-England series and the Sri Lanka-South Africa series, "Both the India-England bubble and the Sri Lanka-South Africa bubble will be a straight bubble to bubble transfers. So, those will be arriving two or three days before the opening game. Obviously, they've been playing plenty of cricket, so it's just a matter of getting them over here and acclimatising to the heat."

The RCB team arrived in the UAE on August 29 to participate in the second phase of the domestic T20 league, starting September 19. The players began quarantine in their hotel for six days before training began. RCB will kick-start their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 20 in Abu Dhabi.