IPL 2021: Australian Players Want To Play The Tournament Despite Covid-19 Scare, Informs ACA Chief Executive Todd Greenberg

Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) chief executive Todd Greenberg has said that the majority of Australian players want to complete their IPL 2021 commitments in spite of the Covid-19 scare. The Covid-19 has breached IPL 2021 bio-bubble as two Kolkata Knight Riders players have been tested positive for the virus. KKR players Sandeep Warrior and Varun Chakravarthy were tested positive for Covid-19.

As a result, the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore game of IPL 2021 was postponed on Monday. Moreover, three members of CSK support staff were also tested positive for Covid-19 including bowling coach Laxmipathy Balaji. As a result, Chennai Super Kings’ next match against Rajasthan Royals is also highly expected to be postponed. Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Delhi Capitals have been asked by BCCI to go under quarantine for few days.

Australian Players Prepared To Fulfil IPL Commitments

While speaking to Australia’s radio station 2GB, ACA chief executive Todd Greenberg said that the majority of Australian players want to complete their IPL 2021 commitments.

“I think the majority are prepared to fulfill their commitments, they went in with their eyes wide open. They do want to see the tournament finished, but they also clearly want to come home at the end, and that’s where the concern comes because there’s just not a definitive plan on how that’s going to happen at the moment,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg also hopes that more players don’t get affected by Covid-19 and informed that ACA is keeping a close eye on the situation.

“You have to be a realist to understand once it breaks into one of these bubbles that we may see more, but let’s hope we don’t. We’re keeping a close eye on it. I think the BCCI has done a really good job, quickly, to try and isolate as best they can, but we’ve seen more cases reported in the last two weeks globally for COVID than the last six months, so clearly on the other side of the world there’s some real concerns.” he further said.

Australian Government has banned international flights from India till May 15 due to the Covid-19 surge in India. This has created a fear among Australian cricketers for returning home after IPL 2021. Earlier, three Australian players Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, and Kane Richardson had left IPL 2021 midway and returned to Australia.

However, many Australian players like David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, and Moises Henriques are still part of IPL 2021.