Australia’s IPL players and coaches could be home by the end of this weekend under a plan funded by the Indian board that would see them complete hotel quarantine in Sydney.
Cricket authorities are waiting for the federal government to lift the May 15 travel pause that would allow Australians in India,including the group of 38 involved in the Indian Premier League,to return home.
Michael Hussey needs to return a negative result in order to be able to depart India after testing positive to COVID-19,but there are hopes it could come by Friday so he can join the Australian group in the Maldives.
The rest of the Australian contingent last week flew to the Maldives after the IPL was postponed due to the virus breaking through the supposed biosecure bubble set up by tournament officials to protect players and coaches.
A source familiar with the issue says a deal is close to being finalised with the NSW Government which would allow the cricketers to quarantine for two weeks in Sydney,and not the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory.
The Berejiklian government came to the aid of cricket last year to allow the Australia and India teams to train while in quarantine in order for the season to go ahead as scheduled.
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A source with knowledge of the plans has said the Board of Control for Cricket in India will foot the quarantine bill. The Indian board had assured all players and staff they would take care of them until they had returned home.
Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have insisted players will not be given preferential treatment over the thousands of Australians who have been waiting to return home during the pandemic.
“The BCCI is putting in place the best possible arrangement,” CA’s interim chief Nick Hockley said last week. “We’re not seeking any kinds of special exemptions whatsoever.
“Any kind of quarantine arrangements would be over and above the cap. So our main priority is we would work with the Australian government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we’re not taking spaces of anyone else that’s available. Certainly,that’s what we’re committed to do.”