TONE DEAF OR HOURS OF JOY?
Debate over IPL matches amid Covid crisis as some stars pull out
TWO Australians became the latest stars to leave the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday (26) as their compatriot Pat Cummins said he was told the event was being kept going to provide “a few hours of joy and respite” during India’s growing coronavirus crisis.
Cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson were returning home for “personal reasons”, their Royal Challengers Bangalore team said. They join Rajasthan Royals bowler Andrew Tye who flew back last Sunday (25).
India star Ravichandran Ashwin also withdrew to support his family last Sunday as the country staggers under the grim daily toll of nearly 350,000 new infections and almost 3,000 deaths.
England batsman Liam Livingstone left Rajasthan last week just before Britain imposed travel curbs on India as its hospitals became overwhelmed and shortages of oxygen and hospital beds grew.
A handful of players, including Indian star Axar Patel, tested positive for Covid before the tournament began.
The world’s richest cricket league has faced criticism for continuing in empty stadiums during the crisis, with a leading newspaper group accusing it of “commercialism gone crass” as it suspended coverage last Sunday.
IPL organisers were anxious to hold the tournament – said to generate billions of dollars for the Indian economy – after last year’s event was moved to the United Arab Emirates because of the pandemic.
Cummins, one of the most expensive foreign imports into the IPL, said he had felt “helpless” watching events in India. He also announced he was donating $50,000 (£35,969) “to buy oxygen supplies for India’s hospitals’.
The Kolkata Knight Riders player, who is continuing to play in the IPL, urged other “privileged” players to also donate.
“There has been quite a bit of discussion over here as to whether it is appropriate for the IPL to continue while Covid-19 infection rates remain high,” Cummins said on Twitter. “I am advised that the Indian government is of the view that playing the IPL while the population is in lockdown provides a few hours of joy and respite each day at an otherwise difficult situation for the country.”
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said it will leave it up to individual players to decide if they want to leave the tournamanet.
England’s limited overs captain Eoin Morgan said that he felt the IPL should go on as long as it did not impact the efforts to fight the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Certainly when we came out of our first lockdown period, I remember the first sport being on TV was probably in New Zealand and Australia. It was rugby union and rugby league. Then slowly, the Bundesliga started, then the Premier League started,” he said.
“That displayed that you can play sport while the country is almost in full lockdown. If there’s a template to make that happen, it has happened, but also as long as it doesn’t disturb what’s happening in the public eye.”
Morgan added that the players aware of the rising cases in India.
“We’re constantly talking about the situation that is unfolding outside of our bubble. It’s not nice watching from afar, considering how lucky we are to be in a bubble and not be affected very much.”
Players are being tested every two days in bio-secure bubbles where they will be based for eight weeks.
The Australian players are said to have
were
left because of fears that they could get stuck as their country clamps down on travel from India. Tye, who has returned to Australia, said other players had asked him how he got home.
“Other guys are just happy to make sure I’m OK and make sure I’m in a good space,” he told a local radio station.
Cricket Australia said it was in contact with IPL players, coaches and commentators and was listening to their “feedback” as well as to advice from the Australian government. “Our thoughts are with the people of India at this difficult time,” a statement said.
While Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting described India’s coronavirus situation as “quite grim”, social media commenters have been divided over the IPL carrying on.
The Express Publications newspaper group said it had stopped reporting on the competition until a “semblance of normalcy is restored”.
“In such a tragic time, we find it incongruous that the festival of cricket is on in India,” the group said.
Senior journalist Sharda Ugra hit out at the IPL in a column for the Hindustan Times, saying the IPL was “bubblewrapped into tone deafness”, and oblivious to “the suffering outside its gates”.
Meanwhile, Australian coach David
Hussey, who is helping Kolkata, said some players and staff had lost family in the pandemic.
“Everyone’s pretty nervous about what’s going on over here,” he told Australian media. “From a Kolkata point of view, we’re desperate for the tournament to keep going, purely because everyone’s in lockdown, there’s not much else to do.”