Mumbai Indians opener also says they would be “getting vaccinated next week”
Mumbai Indians opener Chris Lynn has urged Cricket Australia (CA) to arrange for a chartered flight to bring him and his countrymen home on the conclusion of the ongoing IPL.
Lynn was speaking following a deadly surge of Coid-19 cases in India, which has led to multiple players already pulling out of the tournament. On Tuesday, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a ban on direct flights from India until May 15 and the use of connecting flights (for example via Doha or Dubai) into the country.
“I texted back that as Cricket Australia make 10% of every IPL contract, was there a chance we could spend that money this year on a charter flight once the tournament is over?” Lynn told News Corp media.
While Andrew Tye became the first from his country to leave the IPL on Sunday fearing that he may not be able to return home later, his national team-mates Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa also opted out due to “personal reasons”. Earlier, England’s Liam Livingstone had left the tournament citing “bubble fatigue”, before India and Delhi Capitals’ offspinner R Ashwin also chose to sit out to be with his family.
But Lynn hoped that once the other Australian players – including David Warner, Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith – were done with the IPL, “the government will let us get home on a private charter”, especially because they would be “getting vaccinated next week”.
“I know there are people worse off than us. But we are going from a really tight bubble and are getting vaccinated next week so hopefully the government will let us get home on a private charter,” he said.
On Monday, the Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Pat Cummins also spoke about the increasingly worsening situation in India, having also donated US $50,000 to the country’s PM Cares fund “specifically to purchase oxygen supplies for India’s hospitals”. Announcing the move on Twitter, he also urged his fellow IPL players to come forward and contribute.
“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 wrote. “I’m 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 time for the country.”
But David Hussey, the Knight Riders’ assistant coach, admitted that his countrymen were a “bit nervous” if they could get back home.
“A couple of players, their fathers have passed away,” Hussey told the Sydney Morning Herald. “One person in particular, he’s one of the staff members with us and his father passed away last year from COVID, and he was really pragmatic by saying it was his time to go. 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.”
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who is now the Capitals’ coach, stated that they are “probably the safest people in the country probably because of the bubbles we are in”.
“This IPL, probably more than any other, has become more about what’s happening on the outside rather than what’s happening here,” Ponting said.
India has recorded over a million Covid-19 cases over the last three days, with 352,991 new cases reported on Monday. The country has already been put on the Covid-19 red-list by the UK.