Players to head home as IPL is suspended

ENGLAND’S 11 Indian Premier League players today hoping to secure a swift and safe return home after the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the country’s ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The lucrative Twenty20 competition has been taking place against the grim backdrop of a public health emergency, with India’s daily infection rates recently topping 400,000 and mass oxygen shortages being reported, but was finally suspended yesterday with just half of its 60 scheduled matches completed.

While organisers had attempted to position the IPL as a potential source of succour and entertainment for a cricket-loving population in the grip of a hard lockdown, positive cases in three of the eight franchises changed the landscape and effectively proved that the players’ bio-secure bubbles were no longer able to stave off the threat.

With squads in isolation, fixtures deferred and confidence in the environment waning, the league’s general council unanimously voted to call a stop, with attention instead turning to seeing participants off in a timely and safe manner.

The English contingent, headed up by limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, have been anxious over the situation for some time and will now be focused on securing their flights home. Once they do arrive, they can expect a mandatory 10-day quarantine in a Government-approved hotel due to India’s status as a ‘red-list’ country.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has been providing support and advice on a daily basis but has always treated participation as an individual choice.

The PA news agency understands there are no plans to commission a charter flight for the group, which is split between host venues in Ahmedabad and Delhi and includes Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan, Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Tom and Sam Curran.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is taking the lead on repatriation in concert with individual franchises, though the Professional Cricketers’ Association has also been in touch with players and authorities.

Morgan (Kolkata Knight Riders), Bairstow and Roy (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Moeen Ali and Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings) are all at franchises that have had positive cases in camp, with no confirmation yet over the testing protocols ahead of any departure.

Players last week received an email from IPL chief executive Hemang Amin assuring them “the tournament is not over for BCCI till each one of you has reached your home, safe and sound”.