Australian IPL cricketers reach Sydney after fleeing Covid-hit India

The 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended on May 4 due to an increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country. After the postponement of the league, the entire Australian contingent had traveled to the Maldives due to a travel ban to Australia from India. Thirty-eight members of the Australian delegation were staying in the Maldives. They reached Sydney on Monday. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Michael Hussey, who tested positive for Covid-19 in India, is also anticipated to reach Australia on Monday in a separate flight. Following an RT-PCR test, the CSK coach had returned negative for COVID-19 on Friday.  

Two days back, the government of Australia lifted a temporary ban that threatened citizens attempting to return home from India. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that the cricketers would not be given any special treatment. All the IPL bound cricketers and staff members will be coming back under their own steam on their own ticket.

All Australian cricketers to undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine

The cricketers will now have to undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine in a Sydney hotel. This is a part of strict border controls that have primarily contained the spread of the virus in Australia. Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye and Kane Richardson had already left their IPL franchises ahead of the Australian contingent. These players had already completed quarantine last week. 

After the conclusion of 29 matches, the tournament was hit hard by the dreadful virus. Apart from Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier testing positive, more COVID-19 cases were reported in the bio bubble. After the emergence of new Covid-19 cases, the BCCI decided to suspend the league for the time being. Owing to the Covid-19 situation in the country, the IPL had moved to UAE last year. The BCCI had conducted IPL 2020 in UAE amid the pandemic without any significant difficulties.

Sourav Ganguly has also indicated that the board will look to find a window to complete the remaining IPL matches before the T20 World Cup. Notably, the Pakistan Cricket Board had also postponed the 2021 season of the Pakistan Super League. However, there are talks to host the remainder of the tournament in the UAE. India has reported more than 310,000 new cases and 4,000 deaths on Sunday. The official number of Covid cases in the country of 1.3 billion people is now exceeding 250,000.

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