Coronavirus hit the Indian Premier League (IPL) last week when 13 personnel, including two players, tested positive in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp in Dubai. While the infected have been shifted to a different hotel and are in self-isolation, the virus outbreak has created a “bit of concern” among the Australian players who are currently on the limited-overs tour of England.
Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood, who was bought by CSK at the IPL auction in December last year, admitted about the apprehensions in the Australian squad after the positive cases in IPL. “There is a little bit of concern. Ideally you’d have no cases. But all of them are in quarantine now and I think that finishes up in the next few days. The good thing is that IPL is still 20 days away and we will be thinking about it closer to the tournament. For now, our focus is completely on the tour of England,” Hazlewood said during a virtual media conference.
Currently, 13 players in Australia’s squad for the England tour have IPL contracts and all of them are expected to fly out to the UAE together with the England players upon the conclusion of the ODI series on September 16. The IPL is scheduled to start on September 19. Hazlewood said that even though there isn’t much of a chatter among his Aussie teammates about the Covid situation in IPL, they will take a call on travelling to the UAE after consulting with Cricket Australia. “We haven’t spoken too much about it since the tournament is still a few weeks away. But I assume those things will come up if cases are still happening closer to the (start) date. We will surely touch base with Cricket Australia and have a chat before travelling to the UAE. We will take a call closer to the tournament,” the seamer asserted.
The two players who have tested Covid-19 positive are Chennai Super Kings’ pacer Deepak Chahar and middle-order batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad. To make matters worse for the side, star batsman Suresh Raina is out of the IPL. The 29-year-old Hazlewood said that off-the-field incidents won’t affect CSK’s performance much.
“We have a CSK Whatsapp group and I am quite informed about the things in the camp with all the information coming through. CSK have been one of the most consistent sides in the IPL. They have been reaching the play-offs regularly and I hope this year won’t be any different. There is a lot of strength and depth in the side. This will be my first year with CSK and I hope to contribute to the team’s success before heading into the Australian summer,” Hazlewood said.
Chaos reigns
The Covid outbreak has once again ‘messed up’ with the schedule that the BCCI-IPL had been working on, and there’s a huge possibility now that “Mumbai Indians may not play the first match against Chennai Super Kings”. Given that players have tested positive, the franchise has to now quarantine (even practise in isolation) for 14 days, instead of six, and that could mean IPL could be left with no choice but to start with another team. “It could possibly be Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) because in the first match, you’ll need star players on the field. If MS Dhoni is missing, then it has to be Virat Kohli,” say those tracking developments. While it’s not certain yet if CSK will or will not play the opening game, the governing council has to remain prepared for a switch.
