Australia’s Test and limited-overs captains Tim Paine and Aaron Finch recently spoke about the coronavirus pandemic and how it has been affecting people around the globe. Finch, the limited-overs captain of the team, said that things become uncertain for those in the country because of Australia’s travel advisory issued mostly with them who have contracts with Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. The upcoming season of the IPL has been pushed back to an April 15 start and Finch, who was about to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) this season said that it is tough to plan anything in this serious situation.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Aaron Finch told SEN. “That (travel advice) has changed over the last couple of hours. That could change in two weeks or three weeks, it’s hard to plan anything. But it’s just about making sure everyone around you personally is safe and you’re doing everything you can to stop the spread.”
On the other hand, Tim Paine said that he would love to play in the Sheffield Shield for Tasmania but he backed the decision as he thought that the current situation is bigger than cricket.
Read here: The Future of IPL 2020 at Stake?
“I realise it’s tough but it’s something we should all take very seriously. I would love to be playing for Tasmania right now in the hunt for the Sheffield Shield final and there’s no doubt our Australian men’s team would love to be in Hobart trying to win back the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Certainly our female world champion team would love to be in South Africa,” he said.
“But we are not and for a very, very good reason. As hard as it is for all cricketers at the moment, I think it is time we take a break. I know it’s even harder this time of the year when you’ve got finals and trophies on the line and it’s all there to be won but this is bigger than us, bigger than the game of cricket. I hope we all go back to playing the game that we love and going about our lives the way we want to as soon as possible but in the meantime, please take care of yourselves, take care of others and lets ride this out together. All the best,” he concluded.
