Cricket Australia (CA) CEO Nick Hockley said the decision on Australian players’ participation in the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be taken at a later stage. IPL 2021 was suspended earlier this year after the detection of COVID-19 cases across bio-bubbles of four teams. Following the tournament’s suspension, Australian players had boarded a flight to the Maldives due to a ban on flights from India.
The Australian contingent reached home on May 17 and was reunited with their families on Monday (May 31) after completing a mandatory quarantine period. The likes of Pat Cummins, David Warner, and others were seen meeting their family members after a long time as they returned to their respective homes. Hockley said IPL 2021 will be discussed when the players regroup together once again.
“Once we get back together as a group, then the IPL is something we’ll obviously need to discuss. Our players returning from the IPL have only today come out of quarantine, so our first priority is to make sure they are reunited with their families, we then have a tour to prepare for in the West Indies,” Hockley told ESPNCricinfo.
There are doubts over the participation of several overseas players in the second phase of IPL 2021 due to international commitments. BCCI has reserved the September 18 to October 10 window for IPL 2021’s second phase, however, both Cricket Australia and ECB are apprehensive about sending their players for the tournament.
Hockley said the Australian players, support staff, and coaches were ‘shaken’ by the experience of a long quarantine after IPL 2021’s suspension in India and there is time to refocus ahead of the West Indies tour.
“They are quite clearly shaken by the experience, and are very appreciative to be back home, very much looking forward to being reunited with family and friends today. It’s a couple of weeks before the West Indies touring party then regroups at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and then that’s the time to refocus,” Hockley added.
BCCI is determined to conduct the remainder of IPL 2021 with or without the overseas players in the UAE. BCCI Vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday said the board will go ahead with the tournament irrespective of the availability of the overseas players.
