As the Indian government has cancelled most of the visas till 15th April 2020 in the wake of COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak, there is a big question on the presence of the foreigners in the IPL 2020. Cricket Australia (CA) has currently left the entire decision to the players and their respective IPL franchises.
IPL 2020 will be the 13th edition of this tournament. Like every year, many foreigners have been selected for every team as all the IPL teams have fulfilled their overseas players’ quota (eight players). A total of 18 Australian players, including 13 from the 2020 IPL Auction, have signed the IPL 2020 contract.
The IPL 2020 has been scheduled to be run from 29th March to 24th May. According to the present condition, the IPL 2020 is likely to be played behind the close door while the foreign players’ participation is under the cloud. The IPL governing council will meet on this Saturday (14th March) to take a decision on the IPL 2020.
The CA is continuously monitoring the entire situation. But, they have currently put the ball in the court of the Australian cricketers to decide their participation in IPL 2020.
A CA’s communication manager said, “The IPL is not affiliated with CA as a separate competition featuring individual Australian players, whose contracts are directly with their franchises.
“From a CA perspective, we continue to monitor the situation, particularly looking at the advice provided by DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and other relevant government agencies, including the Australian Institute of Sport, which has outlined a coordinated approach for all Australian sports.”
Globally more than 1,20,000 people have been affected due to the coronavirus, while more than 4,000 people have lost their lives. While more than 150 coronavirus cases have been reported in Australia, India has reported more than 70 cases on this issue.
Cricket Australia has not made any comment in relation to this
While the situation is changing rapidly, the manager feels that it is too early to comment on the availabilities of the Australian cricketers in IPL 2020.
He added, “We aren’t in a position to comment at this stage particularly given we’ve not received any advice from India/IPL team. Cricket Australia has not made any comment in relation to this. I think it’s too early.”
Meanwhile, there is a report that Aussie cricketer David Warner’s visa application has been rejected. However, there is confirmation about the reason for this incident.