The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 has suffered a lot of blows with quite a few layers pulling out of the tournament and now two officials have also withdrawn due to personal reasons. According to the reports of the Indian Express, umpire Nitin Menon has flown to his home in Indore after his mother and wife tested positive for the Covid-19. Australia’s Paul Reiffel will also not be taking part in the tournament anymore.
While Menon has flown home due to being with his family members, Reiffel, as per the report, went back to Australia due to anxiety after the Australian government banning flights from India till May 15.
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As per the quotes in Indian Express, a BCCI official said, “Nitin has a small child to look after as his mother and wife have tested positive while Reiffel informed BCCI that he fears not being able to go home due to the Australian government’s decision banning all flights from India. The BCCI already had several local umpires as a backup so they will be officiating in games in which Menon and Reiffel were scheduled to stand.”
Menon has been receiving immense praise for his umpiring standard in recent times. He was inducted into the elite panel of the umpires last year and made his debut in the India-England series. He was also praised for his performance in the ongoing IPL. Meanwhile, the report adds that Australian umpire Rod Tucker will not be flying to India.
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India is witnessing the second wave of the COVID-19, with around 3.5 lakh new cases emerging regularly. The recent surge in the new cases has seen a number of countries banning flights from India. Rajasthan Royals’ Liam Livingstone was the first player to leave the bio-bubble. He was followed by Andrew Tye, who flew to Doha and then to Australia. A day later, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson also pulled out of the tournament.
R Ashwin remains to be the only Indian cricketer to pull out of IPL 2021. He was part of the Delhi Capitals.
