Australian players can travel to Maldives or Sri Lanka after the suspension of IPL 2021

After hosting just 29 matches of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India was forced to take a harsh call of suspending the tournament for an indefinite time. The postponement of the T20 League has left the Australian players stranded in India as they can’t go back to their home country immediately.

India is reporting over 3.5 lakhs daily positive coronavirus cases and seeing the state of the Asian nation, the Australian government has banned the entry of any flight or people from India. The travel restrictions have been imposed till May 15 and the people defying the order by the government can be jailed or will have to pay a hefty fine.

The strict rules by the Australian government have been the cause of worry for the cricketers as the government has refused to provide any leverage to the cricketers saying that they aren’t on National duty. Thus, Cricket Australia (CA) is in constant contact with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and is finding ways to move the thirty-eight Australians, including players, commentators, coaches, and officials safe and sound from India.

Nick Hockley opines on the travel of Australian players from India

It is speculated that all the Australian players present in India can travel to Sri Lanka or the Maldives and can stay there till the travel ban is removed. “The BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] is working through arrangements to repatriate [the Australians] as quickly and safely as possible,” Cricket Australia’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley said as quoted by ABC News.

“What the BCCI is working to do is to move the entire cohort out of India where they will wait until it is possible to return to Australia,” he added.

The Covid-19 scare began in IPL 2021 with as many as two cricketers namely Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier from Kolkata Knight Riders testing positive for the coronavirus. Chennai Super Kings also reported three positive cases as batting coach Michael Hussey, bowling coach L Balaji and the bus cleaner tested positive for Covid-19. 

While the Indian board was planning to somehow manage the damage caused by the coronavirus, they were hit with two massive blows as Amit Mishra from Delhi Capitals (DC), and Wridhimann Saha from SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) returned positive results for the virus. Thus, keeping in mind the risk to the safety of players and other members involved in the T20 Extravaganza, BCCI decided to suspend the league. They informed the same via an official statement.