Cricket Australia, BCCI working to relocate Aussie IPL stars to Sri Lanka or Maldives
Cricket Australia is working with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to relocate the entire Australian India Premier League cohort to the Maldives or Sri Lanka where they will wait until they can return to Australia.
In a snap press conference called on Wendesday afternoon, Cricket Australia interim CEO Nick Hockley revealed the steps being taken to ensure the safety of some of Australia’s biggest stars after the IPL was indefinitely suspended amid a devastating wave of COVID-19 sweeping through India.
“What we’re working to do and the BCCI have been working to do, is working to move the entire cohort out of India where they will then wait until it’s possible to return to Australia,” Mr. Hockley said.
“The BCCI has been working on a range of options. That’s now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, and we’re working through the final details of that at the moment. We expect that the move will happen in the next 2-3 days.”
From there, the Australian cohort will wait until the travel ban from India is lifted on May 15 before returning home. Once on home soil, they will again have to quarantine for 14 days.
In all, 38 Australians remain in India, including players, commentators and support staff.
Hockley batted away claims that the entire relocation effort could be viewed with animosity by some sections of the public.
Our main priority is we would work with the Australian Government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we’re not taking spaces of anyone else that’s available.”
The head of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, Todd Greenberg, also confirmed the status of Aussie cricket great Michael Hussey who tested positive for the virus and remains in isolation.
“We’ve spoken to Mike today. He is in good spirits,” Greenberg said. “His symptoms are relatively mild.
“He is in a stint of isolation in his hotel room for around 10 days. He has good support systems around him. He is in pretty good spirits.”
India’s official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million on Tuesday, nearly doubling in the past three months.
Deaths officially have passed 220,000 but the true figures are believed to be far higher.
