BCCI officials confirm that the IPL will go on despite few players leaving the tournament
Photo Credit: iplt20.com
There was severe anxiety pierced through the biosecure bubble through the IPL on this Monday with Ravichandran Ashwin, the leading Indian off-spinner and a few Australian players who are seen withdrawing themselves from this league due to the escalating crisis in India due to COVID-19. But still, BCCI confirmed that the IPL would be going on. Ravichandran Ashwin is 34 years old and is competing for the Delhi Capitals; he decided that he wants to take a break from the tournament as his family is fighting with the deadly virus, and he wants to support them in this tough time. He also confirmed that he would surely return to the side of things in the right direction.
On the other hand, Andrew Tye playing for Rajasthan Royals and the duo of Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson, both from the Royal Challengers Bangalore, withdrew because of their apprehension set in after few weeks of the league running smoothly and it was being held in front of the empty stands in all the six venues. Richardson and Zampa have not said anything regarding their personal reasons for leaving. Still, Tye said that he is getting scared to get locked out of the country, which is owing to ample quarantine cases from India in Perth, which is also his hometown.
Tye also told SEN Radio when he was in Doha, which is the transit point prior to his flight to Perth, that he just thought to get home before he is stuck and his country gets locked out. He also added that he had been at home for eleven days out of the bubble since August, so it is a priority for him to get to his home.
But BCCI insisted that the Indian Premier League will be going on, and it will never come on the way of the ones who desperately want to leave. According to one senior board official, IPL is going ahead, and if anyone is willing to leave, it is perfectly fine.
RCB spent a whopping amount of Rs. 4 crores at the player’s auction to buy Richardson and Zampa; the leg-spinner was bought for Rs. 1.5 crore. Richardson was only featured in a single match for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, Zampa was unable to be in the playing XI this season.
Tye, who is 34 years old, could not get a game with the Royals as of now, and his contract cost Rs. 1 crore to the franchise.
India is known to deliver more than 3 lakh cases on a daily basis for a few days, and there is a crisis going on in the health infrastructure in handling the shortage of providing oxygen and few crucial medicines during this time.
David Hussey, who is the mentor of Kolkata Knight RIders that the Australian players in the tournament are a bit nervous about going back to their home in this kind of situation. He said that everyone is kind of nervous about whether they will be able to get back to Australia or not. He also added that there are also a few more Australians who will be in this same scenario as well.
