London: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that eight of the 11 English players who were playing in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League have returned home after the season was postponed on Tuesday.
Speaking to ANI, Danny Reuben — head of team communication for England cricket team — confirmed that while 8 players are back in the UK, the remaining three players are set to leave India in the next 48 hours.
“I can confirm that 8 of the 11 England players in India managed to get on a flight to Heathrow last night and have landed this morning. They will now quarantine in government approved hotels. The remaining three – Jordan, Malan, Morgan – should leave India within the next 48 hours,” he said.
Jonny Bairstow (SunRisers Hyderabad), Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings), Tom Curran (Delhi Capitals), Sam Billings (Delhi Capitals), Chris Woakes (Delhi Capitals), Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings) and Jason Roy (SunRisers Hyderabad) are the eight players who arrived in the UK on Wednesday, reported Sky Sports.
These eight players will now have to quarantine in government-approved hotels for 10 days, as the UK had listed India as a ‘red list’ country.
The remaining three England players in India are — Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, and Eoin Morgan.
Over the course of the last two days, two KKR players Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier tested positive for Covid-19. CSK’s bowling coach L Balaji, batting coach Mike Hussey and one bus cleaner also tested positive for the virus.
On Tuesday, SRH’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and Delhi Capitals’ Amit Mishra also tested positive for the virus and these cases and the safety of those involved in the league saw the BCCI put an end to the ongoing season of the IPL.
The Indian Premier League Governing Council (GC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, in an emergency meeting unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect.
The BCCI also said that it will do everything in its power to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021.
The BCCI also thanked all the healthcare workers, state associations, players, support staff, franchisees, sponsors, partners, and all the service providers who have tried their best to organise IPL 2021 even in these extremely difficult times.