We will ensure you reach home seamlessly: BCCI to foreign players

The BCCI stepped in to assuage apprehensions of IPLrsquos foreign recruits especially Australians as a second wave of COVID19 infections battered India prompting the government Down Under to suspend air travel with the country besides asking players to make their ldquoown arrangementsrdquo while returningThe fear of being locked out of their own nation drove the likes of Andrew Tye to take an early flight back to Australia while Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa also exited their franchise Royal Challengers Bangalorersquos biobubble on MondayA day later Australia announced that it was suspending air travel to and from India till May 15 amid the swirling COVID19 cases The BCCI wrote to the foreign players telling them that their safe return home will be its responsibility once the tournament ends on May 30ldquoWe understand that many of you are apprehensive about how you will get back home once the tournament concludeswe want to apprise you that you have nothing to worry aboutrdquo BCCI COO Hemang Amin said in a letter addressed to the playersldquoThe BCCI will do everything to ensure that you reach your respective destinations seamlessly The BCCI is monitoring the situation very closely and is working with the government authorities to make arrangements to get you home once the tournament concludesldquoBe rest assured that the tournament is not over for BCCI till each one of you has reached your home safe and soundrdquo he addedLynn hopes for special flightMumbai Indiansrsquo Australian batsman Chris Lynn hoped that Cricket Australia would arrange a chartered flight for those who have stayed back after CA checked on their travel plansldquoI texted back that as Cricket Australia make 10 per cent of every IPL contract was there a chance we could spend that money this year on a charter flight once the tournament is overrdquo Lynn told News Corp mediaAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison ruled out any government assistance and said that those in the IPL will have to make their own arrangements for return ldquoThey have travelled there privately This wasnrsquot part of an Australian tour Theyrsquore under their own resources and theyrsquoll be using those resources too Irsquom sure to see them return to Australia in accordance with their own arrangementsrdquo Morrison was quoted as saying by The GuardianAs of now the IPL still has 14 Australian players including big names like Steven Smith Delhi Capitals David Warner Sunrisers Hyderabad and Pat CumminsRicky Ponting DC and Simon Katich Royal Challengers Bangalore are among the highprofile Australian coaches while iconic former players such as Matthew Hayden Brett Lee and Lisa Sthalekar are part of the tournamentrsquos commentary teamNo concerns have so far been publicly expressed by the IPLrsquos top England and New Zealand players even though their cricket boards have issued statements that they are constantly monitoring the situationLee donates bitcoinMeanwhile inspired by his countryman Cumminsrsquos gesture former Australian pacer Lee on Tuesday decided to donate one bitcoin approximately Rs 40 lakh to help India in its fight against the raging COVID19 pandemic Cummins on Monday won lots of hearts when he announced a USD 50000 approx Rs 37 lakh donation towards the PM CARES FundThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever