IPL COVID crisis: Aussie cricketers stranded as situation deteriorates in Indian tragedy
Australian cricketers are stranded in India and the PM hasn’t exactly been sympathetic about their plight, but there still may be a way home.
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IPL authorities have assured Australian players in COVID-ravaged India they will do everything possible to get them home as the Australian government paused all flights from the nation until mid-May.
Australian cricketers, coaches, commentators and officials taking part in the world’s richest T20 tournament received a letter from the IPL boss on Tuesday reassuring them they would not be trapped in India.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison made it clear there would be no special arrangements for the players, who he noted were not in India as part of the Australian team.
While West Australian bowleer Andrew Tye managed to leave on the weekend and return home safely, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson, who had hoped to leave on Wednesday morning, were still in Mumbai when Morrison announced flights would be stopped.
The Australian understands the pair were due to fly out in the early hours to Doha.
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The PM said on Tuesday that passengers coming on flights via Doha, Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had been blocked by the countries mentioned.
Sources in India said there was still some hope that a prearranged flight would allow Zampa and Richardson to return.
Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association were scrambling on Tuesday to confirm the situation for the pair, who announced on Monday they would be leaving their Bangalore franchise.
In a letter obtained by News Corp, IPL and BCCI chief Hemang Amin wrote to players to reassure them about the situation.
“We understand that there are a few apprehensions and concerns regarding the general situation in India and the withdrawals of certain cricketers,” he wrote.
“We completely respect the decision taken by the players and extend our support to them in every way. At the same time, we would also assure you that you are totally safe within the bubble.”
Hemang said biosecurity measures would become stricter, with testing every two days not five and outside food deliveries banned from team hotels.
“We understand that many of you are apprehensive about how you will get back home once the tournament concludes, which is natural and understandable,” he wrote.
“We want to apprise you that you have nothing to worry about. The BCCI will do everything to ensure that you reach your respective destinations seamlessly.
“The BCCI is monitoring the situation very closely and is working with the government authorities to make arrangements to get you home once the tournament concludes. But rest assured that the tournament is not over for BCCI till each one of you has reached your home, safe and sound.”
CA was trying to establish the status of the players who wanted to leave now and get advice on what will happen at the end of the tournament.
The IPL is not complete until the end of May and while the majority of the Australians involved have resolved to stay others are unsure about their next move but appear to have had it made for them.
No decision has been made about a proposed charter flight for the entire group.
The franchise owners in the IPL have private jets and have allowed players to use them for flights in the past. There is a suggestion the Australians could use them to get to a third country.
Morrison ruled out any special arrangements on repatriation flights for the players.
“No, it’s done on vulnerability and they’ve travelled there privately under those arrangements,” he said after a meeting of national cabinet. “This wasn’t part of an Australian tour and they’re under their own resources and they will be using those resources, I’m sure, to see them return to Australia in accordance with their own arrangements.”
There is hope that the Australians taking part in the IPL will be given some priority as they have been tested regularly while in India and remained inside an extremely tight biosecurity bubble.
Chris Lynn said he was expecting to be vaccinated next week.
Lynn told News Corp on Monday he thought Cricket Australia should organise a flight home as it received 10 per cent of the players’ salaries from the IPL.
The ACA and CA has co-ordinated a WhatsApp group for the 39 Australians in India working at the IPL and have been understood to be looking at a charter flight home at the end of the tournament.
Players are on their own at the IPL but both organisations are keen to see them repatriated.
All would have had private flights arranged by their employers, but there is no certainty these will be honoured with the government suspending flights.
The IPL had refused to mention the pandemic during the tournament but recently instituted public health messages during the broadcast, which urge people to take precautions.
The decision to continue the IPL in the middle of what Morrison called a “humanitarian crisis” is proving controversial, but the Indian government is keen for the tournament to continue.
Pat Cummins, who donated $50,000 for ventilators to a charity spruiked by Indian PM Nahendra Modi, noted this in a social media post.
“I’m advised that the Indian Government is of the view that playing the IPL while the population is in lockdown provides a few hours of joy and respite each day at an otherwise difficult time for the country,” he wrote.
Haddin’s revelation on whether IPL continues in broken land
Brad Haddin says the deserted streets and their sounds of silence — is when it hit you most. India doesn’t feel like India.
The honking horns which are the relentless backing track of life in the land of a billion souls have fallen silent.
But the greatest cricketing show on earth is committing to go on … for the moment.
Haddin is assistant coach at Sunrisers Hyderabad and on Tuesday caught a private jet with the team to New Delhi, the city which is recording COVID cases at a record rate as India’s total spikes to a world record 350,000 a day.
And that is just the ones that have been counted. One IPL medical man says you can multiply that by 10 and it would be closer to the truth.
“There is no-one on the roads — the country is in lockdown,’’ Haddin said.
“The normal carnage of getting through Indian traffic is not there. It does feel strange. Different.’’
Haddin is aware of the two widely different public sentiments in India on the merits of having a glamorous cricket tournament in the middle of catastrophic health issue.
Much like Phar Lap giving people cause to smile in the Great Depression, there are many who say the tournament is doing its job to provide some salvation for the shattered spirits of the nation. And the other side is that the cash would be better spend on health.
“There is that divide where many people are saying the cricket is giving them something to hold to on and other saying the resources might be better used to help in the pandemic. I can see both sides.
“It is a really hard thing to get your head around. You feel safe in the team bubble yet there is a major shortage of oxygen in hospitals.’’
Haddin is unsure what effect the federal government’s flight ban to and from India until mid-May will have on the Australian players and coaches still in India.
“I can’t answer that at the moment but the fact that players feel safe helps. If that changes players will change. The only concern is how you can get home. That will be interesting to see how they get home.
“In the hotels you feel safe. They have gone to great lengths to put anyone’s mind at ease.
“The bubbles have been extremely tight. We are (COVID) tested every three days.
“Staff have been un quarantine for two weeks. The only people you have contact with are in the bubble with you.’’
Haddin’s team occupy three floors of the their hotel — two for sleeping and one for eating.
“Food is prepared is only for our team by people who don’t leave the hotel. Everyone is in the bubble. The staff quarantined for two weeks before the tour.’’
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