The Australian players and support staff that participated in the recently-suspended Indian Premier League 2021, will reach home on Monday. Meanwhile, Michael Hussey, the batting coach of Chennai Super Kings, who earlier had tested positive for COVID-19 in New Delhi while they were playing there, had finally returned with negative tests and he can also fly now.
ESPNcricinfo has reported that Hussey will fly a commercial flight via Doha whereas others, including Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins, who were in the Maldives after the IPL got suspended, will take a chartered flight to Australia, as the BCCI has arranged it. However, they all will have to be in quarantine in Australia after reaching there.
“The public will see our best Australian cricketers as almost superheroes. They’re brilliant athletes, great cricketers but they’re human beings,” Todd Greenberg, the ACA chief executive was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “Some of them are fathers and husbands, and they’re under enormous amounts of stress. Some deal with it differently. This will probably be an experience they will never forget. We will help them when they come home. Some will cope with it really well, others will need support and counselling and that’s what we’ll do.”
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“The last 12 months around the globe, we’ve seen all professional athletes travel differently and charter flights maybe two years ago would have seen a different type of commentary than what we would see today. The reality is we’re going to try to keep them as safe as possible and if that’s available, I don’t think we should shy away from that. I’m not sure it will create reticence but it will ensure players do their due diligence before they sign agreements,” he further added.
“The world is literally changing before our eyes, particularly with Covid and on that side of the world, obviously those cases are going up exponentially. We’re enjoying our freedoms here in Australia. It is a very different place over there. If anything it sends a message to players about making sure you do your homework before making any decisions,” he concluded.
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Notably, the Australian government had imposed a travel ban on flights from India until May 15 due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country. While over 4lakh people are getting affected, over 4000 people are dying too due to the second wave of the deadly virus as well.
