IPL 2021 postponed: Eight England players return home, Australians to wait in Maldives or Sri Lanka | Cricket News

Eight England players returned to London on Wednesday after the abrupt suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL), with event organisers planning an airlift to Maldives or Sri Lanka for the stranded Australian cohort.

Hours after the profitable cricket league was suspended on Tuesday due to India’s COVID-19 disaster, the English members of the Delhi Capitals squad rushed to Delhi from Ahmedabad to catch a flight to Heathrow.

Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Jason Roy and Curran brothers Sam and Tom landed on Wednesday morning, an England spokesman instructed Reuters.

“They will now quarantine in government-approved hotels,” he stated.

England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, batsman Dawid Malan and all-rounder Chris Jordan would go away India in the following 48 hours, he added.

The 38-strong contingent of Australian players, coaches, umpires and media pundits could have to wait longer, although, to get house, in the face of a ban on arrivals from India till a minimum of May 15.

Cricket Australia stated there was a plan to get them out of the pandemic-ravaged nation by chartered flight “in the next two or three days”. 

“What the BCCI are working to do is to move the entire cohort out of India where they will wait until it’s possible to return to Australia,” CA interim Chief Executive Nick Hockley instructed reporters in Sydney.

“That’s now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The BCCI are committed not only to the first move, but also to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia.”

The CA official refused to speculate if the league might resume this yr.

“I think it’s premature to speculate on that,” he stated.

“At the moment, the BCCI are very focused on getting all the players, not just the Australians, home safe.” 

Chennai Super Kings’ Australian batting coach Mike Hussey, who has examined constructive for COVID-19, will keep again to full his quarantine interval in India.

Players’ union boss Todd Greenberg stated the cricketers have been below an “enormous amount of stress” in India.

“The public will see our best Australian cricketers as almost superheroes … but they are human beings,” the chief govt of the Australian Cricketers’ Association stated. 

MOUNTING TOLL 

India’s coronavirus deaths rose by a file 3,780 over the last 24 hours, a day after it grew to become the second nation to cross 20 million infections, after the United states. learn extra

While the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has promised protected passage for the players and officers, New Zealand Cricket stated all of their players have been isolating in staff motels in India.

An NZC spokesman stated captain Kane Williamson and a number of other of his staff mates had already been booked to be part of remainder of the check aspect in England subsequent month.

“We haven’t got the finer details of that sorted yet. We’re working now with the ECB (English cricket board) and BCCI to arrange flights to get them over to England,” the spokesman stated.

New Zealand players’ union boss Heath Mills stated the cricketers have been “pretty anxious now and pretty keen to come home”.

“They are working with their IPL franchises and some franchises have been good at assisting and others haven’t,” Mills instructed media.