CSA hope players will return soon
CRICKET South Africa is hopeful that all the South Africans – players and support staff – who were participating in the Indian Premier League will be back in the country by tomorrow.
A number of logistical hurdles need to be overcome, but CSA and the the SA Cricketers’ Association are confident that the 11 players, along with the support staff, contracted to various teams will be back in the country before the end of the week. They will all have to quarantine for between 10 and 14 days.
CSA said yesterday it had “made contact with all the relevant franchises, to ensure the expedited travel of all South African players and support staff back to our shores”.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) indefinitely postponed the lucrative T20 tournament yesterday morning after a fourth team had a player or official test positive for Covid-19. The pandemic has ravaged India in recent weeks, with more than 300 000 new cases per day reported for the last 13 days.
“This decision was taken keeping the safety, health and wellbeing of all the stakeholders in mind,” said a statement released by the IPL’s organisers yesterday.
“These are difficult times, especially in India and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times.”
The tournament had been taking place in a bio-bubble but unlike the strict measures imposed by Cricket SA when it hosted tours here by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and then held domestic limited overs competitions in one city, the IPL was being hosted in five different cities. At the time the competition was postponed all eight teams were either in Delhi or Ahmedabad.
Getting the players, some of whom have their families with them, from those two cities onto flights has proven to be a significant challenge, with the most optimal route still open to get to South Africa being through Doha in Qatar.
The BCCI will pay for all flights for players and officials.
On a chaotic day, players privately described to Independent Media, scenes of mayhem in hotels as players scrambled to make arrangements to leave India yesterday. There had been concerns initially, that the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, who play for the Delhi Capitals and Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Lungi Ngidi, who play for the Chennai Super Kings might have to serve a seven day quarantine in India before travelling.
Three positive tests were returned by officials and a coach attached to the Super Kings, while Delhi had recently faced the Kolkata Knight Riders which had three players test positive on Monday.
But it appears that following talks yesterday, everyone will be allowed to travel as soon as possible. All the players have been regularly tested as part of the protocols in the biobubble so will have the necessary documentation that will allow them back into the country. South Africa’s laws demand that all travellers provide proof of a negative test within 72 hours of travel.