IPL 2021: “We just want a way to go home” – Glenn Maxwell expresses concerns of Australian players
Glenn Maxwell
The COVID-19 situation in India has led to concern among a plethora of overseas players taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL is the only major sporting event taking place in the country amidst the second wave of the pandemic and there has been a lot of concerns among the players, especially overseas ones, on the tournament as well as how they would leave after the tournament ends due to travel bans and the like.
The situation in India is dire at the moment and countries like Australia have banned flights to and from India for an indefinite period of time. This has led to uncertainty over how the Aussies will leave after the tournament comes to an end next month. Chris Lynn had voiced this issue out saying that chartered planes were required by the players to take them home safely.
Glenn Maxwell speaks on the uncertain situation
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell spoke today on the ‘Final Word Podcast’ about the situation and said, “There are 5,000 Aussies in India at the moment. We are not asking for preferential treatment, we are just hoping that things can start to take an upside in India and we can hopefully find a way to get home safely. We knew it was getting bad when we came here. We do turn the TV on, news channels showing 24×7. It is hard to swallow. We had at one point, 700 cases in Australia. It’s nothing compared to what’s happened here.”
“We just want to find a way to go home. The BCCI, both governments can work a solution. If we have to wait a bit longer, so be it but there is a way to get home at some stage. People will have different opinions on how much impact a sport would have in their lives when their family is struggling. The jobs that are created by the IPL right now are keeping people working and going,” he added.
“Once IPL finishes and potentially the bubble will be broken, you don’t want to be stuck here, just try and look for the safest way to move on. It’s something I floated to my fiancee Vinnie, if things go extremely south, a whole lot worse, what are we actually supposed to do if there is no help? I am sure there will be help from BCCI to accommodate the overseas players at the moment,” he further said.
With regard to cricketing action, Maxwell’s RCB face Punjab Kings (PBKS) today in Ahmedabad.
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