No suggestion of charter to bring back Australians from IPL, says Cricket Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic, unsurprisingly, has resulted in hindrances to the functioning of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Several marquee players, including the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Kane Richardson, have pulled out of the tournament over safety concerns. And Monday’s match between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was postponed after Sandeep Warrier and Varun Chakravarthy tested positive for the virus.

International players who have a better COVID situation back home might want to go back, but it seems like Australian cricketers will not have that luxury. The Australian government has announced that all flights from India have been banned until May 15. Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed that it has no plans to charter special flights for Australian cricketers partaking in the tournament and that it was too early to speculate about repatriation plans.

The Australian cricketers here have not formally asked, as a unit, to be flown back home by CA or the government yet. However, Chris Lynn, captain of Brisbane Heat in Australia’s Big Bash T20 tournament, spoke about the possibility of CA funding a flight to bring its players back home. CA interim Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley, however, said on Monday that there have been no suggestions to bring back the Aussies involved in the IPL. However, he also mentioned that he was “very concerned” about the safety and well-being of the players and that he had been in regular contact with them.

“There’s no suggestion at the moment of any charter flight,” Hockley said. “We’re working closely and talking closely with the ACA (Australian Cricketers’ Association), with the players and with the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to make sure everyone’s okay and the people have got full information. We’ve been in touch with the players there and they are generally in good spirits,” he continued.

“The work the BCCI has done around the (bio-secure) bubble means they are feeling safe and secure, and those we’ve talked to are generally planning to complete their playing commitments. The BCCI have come out and said they understand and want to support the players in making sure they get home safely at the end. The tournament doesn’t finish until the 30th of May, so for the moment it’s monitor the situation and as we get closer to the end of the tournament we’ll need to see where the situation is at,” he concluded.