BCCI 'committed' to arrange safe ways for Australians to go back home: Cricket Australia chief

Staying true to the promises made on making sure all players will reach their homes safely, the BCCI is making moves to send all of the Australian players and support staffs involved in the IPL 2021 to either Sri Lanka or the Maldives before they can be eligible for getting entry into Australia for which a chartered flight will be arranged later.

There were reports that players and former players who wished to return to their homes in Australia will be staying in quarantine in the Maldives to make themselves eligible for entry into their own country.

Now, Cricket Australia's interim chief executive Nick Hockley has confirmed that the BCCI is ‘committed’ to ensure all the players and support staffs reach their respective homes.

"What the BCCI is working to do is to move the entire cohort out of India where they will wait until it's possible to return to Australia. The BCCI has been working on a range of options. That's now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The BCCI is committed not only to the first move but also to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia,” Hockley said to reporters.

After the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League was ‘indefinitely suspended,’ there were uncertainties on the plans for the Australian players and former players who were part of different teams as the Australian government has mandated return from India as a punishable offence.

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IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel confirms; BCCI seeking window around ICC World T20 to complete IPL 2021

Amid increasing uncertainty over the fate of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League that was cut short due to rising number of Covid-19 cases across multiple franchises, IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel has said that the tournament will be resumed from where it was left and during a window period before or after the ICC World T20 scheduled for later this year. “The remaining 31 matches will be completed whenever we can. So, matches will resume from where we left this year. We have to look at a window, before the ICC T20 World Cup or after the World Cup (October-November 2021),” Brijesh Patel said in an interview with News 18. He also added that the BCCI and IPL governing council first thought of rescheduling some matches of the sides that were affected by the Covid-19 cases in their camps. However, he added that once it spread across to as many as four franchises, the option of rescheduling matches became untenable and the BCCI had to take a tough call on suspending the league. Reportedly, the BCCI is set to lose approximately Rs 2,000 crore after a suspended edition of the IPL and hence it is likely that the board will be willing to find a window to complete its cash cow.

IPL 2021 | Michael Hussey tests Covid-19 positive, to face uncertainty over going back home

A day after the bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji tested positive for the novel coronavirus, batting coach Mike Hussey has also tested positive. The development came in the backdrop of the IPL governing council suspending this year’s edition for an indefinite period. "Hussey was tested and his sample came positive. We sent it for retesting but that has also come positive," PTI quoted an unnamed IPL source. Hussey testing positive for Covid-19 will most likely complicate his return to Australia where the federal government has imposed restrictions on people including players coming from India that is hit severely by the Covid-19 pandemic. Other players, support staffs and commentators are reportedly looking to spend their time in the Maldives in order to be eligible for getting entry to their homeland. But, Mike Hussey might well have to go through a tougher route. The 14th edition of the IPL was on its way till the halfway stage before cores of Covid-19 cases struck teams. First, cases were reported from the Kolkata Knight Riders camp then the Chennai Super Kings along with the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Delhi Capitals. Initially, the BCCI and the IPL governing council started with rescheduling the matches one after another before finally giving up on this season and avised all stakeholders to go back to their homes and spend time with their families.

Fomer Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill kidnapped by former partner's brother last month

Former Australia Test cricketer Stuart MacGill was kidnapped from his home in Syndey on April 14 and was threatened and beat in some other part of the city, as per various media reports in Australia citing the federal police. According to a report in The Age, one of his abductors was the brother of his recent partner Maria O’Meagher. The person is named Marino Sotiropoulos, who is the owner of Aristotle’s restaurant in Neutral Bay, where the former leg-spin bowler works as a general manager. The other three men have been identified as Son Minh Nguyen, and brothers Frederick and Richard Schaaf. Sotiropoulos was accused of being a member of a criminal gang and of supplying a significant commercial quantity of a controlled substance. Another report in The Australian claimed that Sotiropoulos saw the kidnapping of McGill as a potential chance to end his debt but Detective Acting Superintendent Anthony Holton has said that the 44-year-old MacGill did not owe any money to the charged group, including Sotiropoulos. MacGill made his debut in 1998 and shone to prominence after bowling magnificently on the tour of West Indies in 1999. He could play only 44 Tests and only one one day internationals for Australia.

Shakib, Mustafizur to undergo 14-day institutional quarantine on Bangladesh return

Bangladesh’ Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, who were both part of the now postponed Indian Premier League, would have to undergo 14-day institutional quarantine on return to their home nation. The Bangladesh Cricket Board had applied to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for relief in their player’s quarantine rule, but the office declined, saying everybody must follow the same protocol. Professor Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, director-general of DGHS told Cricbuzz that the players must undergo the compulsory quarantine. "They will have to do 14-day institutional quarantine. BCB had applied to us for them (reducing the quarantine period) but we have informed them that they don't have any other choice but to follow the rule that is applicable for everyone,'' he said. "They have to complete the quarantine in our specified quarantine centre and that can be either Hotel Sonargaon or Hotel Raddison," the DG added. Bangladesh like many other nations have imposed a ban on flights from India due to the deadly second wave of Covid-19 prevalent in the latter country. For Shakib and Mustafizur, who both played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively, to return to Dhaka, special arrangements would be made by BCB. Both these players have been named in the squad for a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka which begins on May 23 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.