Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Pat Cummins admitted that few Aussies players were “anxious” after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the travel ban.
Morrison had last week announced a ban on passenger flights from India till May 15 and he also said that there would be no special privileges given to the Australian players in India. “As soon as the hard border shut, obviously no-one has experienced that before. It added a bit of anxiety for a few of the Aussies over here. But we signed up to play the tournament until the start of June. Hopefully it all reopens on May 15 and we’ll be able to get back,” Cummins told Fox Sports’ The Back Page before the BCCI announced on Tuesday that the IPL has been postponed.
According to Fox Sports, the Australian Prime Minister had also announced that if any person who had been in India tried to return home, the person may face jail time. The Australian vice-captain admitted Morrison’s comments came as a shock. “Yeah, it did a little bit. Once we flew out of Australia we knew we were signing up for 14 days quarantine coming home, so you always feel that little bit further away from getting home,” said Cummins.
The IPL 2021 was being held at four venues during the league stage before the tournament was postponed. “Last year we had the IPL held over in the UAE and that was an incredibly well-run tournament,” said Cummins.
“This year, they tried to push it that little step further and have it over here in multiple cities in India. I’m sure looking back they might have tweaked a few things,” he added.
The IPL Governing Council (GC) and BCCI on Tuesday in an emergency meeting unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia said that it is in direct contact with the BCCI to ensure safe accommodation and repatriation of the Australian contingent.
Hours after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was postponed, Cricket Australia said that it is in direct contact with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to ensure safe accommodation and repatriation of the Australian contingent.
“Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association understand the decision of the BCCI to indefinitely postpone the 2021 Indian Premier League for the safety and wellbeing of all participants,” a joint statement from Cricket Australia (CA) and ACA read. “CA is in direct contact with the BCCI as they work through plans to ensure the safe accommodation and repatriation of Australian players, coaches, match officials, and commentators back home to Australia,” it added.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had last week announced a ban on passenger flights from India till May 15 and he also said that there would be no special privileges given to the Australian players in India.
Cricket Australia said it will not seek an exemption on the travel ban and thanked BCCI for their efforts to ensure the safety of all participants at the IPL.