London: The Englishmen were the first ones out while the Australians await a move to the Maldives as IPL’s foreign recruits charted their way back home on Wednesday with assistance from the BCCI after the T20 league was indefinitely suspended on Tuesday.
Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy landed in London to begin a 10-day quarantine before heading to their respective homes.
England skipper Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan and Chris Jordan are expected to board a flight to London within the next 48 hours. I can confirm that eight of the 11 England players in India managed to get on a flight to Heathrow on Tuesday night. They landed on Wednesday morning, an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokesperson told PTI.
They will quarantine in government-approved hotels. Jordan, Malan and Morgan should leave India within the next 48 hours. The Australians are waiting to know when they can fly out to the Maldives, where they will stay for a few days before reaching home. The detour has been forced by the Australian government’s travel ban on India till May 15 because of the explosion of COVID-19 cases here. All Australians will assemble in New Delhi. They will head to the Maldives by a chartered flight, said a franchise official.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Michael Hussey, who is the only Australian to have tested positive for the coronavirus, however will have to stay back to serve a 10-day quarantine in India. The IPL 2021 also featured cricketers from South Africa (11), New Zealand (10), West Indies (9), Afghanistan (3) and Bangladesh (2).
New Zealand’s players association head Heath Mills told ‘ESPNcricinfo’ that one group of Kiwis would head to the UK for an upcoming series, but that would be only after May 10. Due to the UK border restrictions, the group cannot get into England until May 11. It is obviously challenging for them to wait for another few days, said Mills.
The ones headed for the UK include Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, and Kyle Jamieson among others. The ones who have to get back to New Zealand are coaches Stephen Fleming, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, and Mike Hesson among others. The group going home to New Zealand has a real challenge, added Mills.