Pat Cummins has spoken publicly for the first time since being left stranded in India by the country’s Covid crisis to say being barred from coming home was not Australia’s cricket stars were ‘signing up for’.
Cummins, David Warner Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis and coach Ricky Ponting are among a 34-strong Australian cricket contingent still in India.
The lucrative Indian Premier League tournament was suspended on Tuesday after multiple players tested positive to Covid-19, leaving the sporting stars marooned in the country.
The group are among 9,000 Australians in India unable to return home until at least May 15 due to a travel ban the federal government has enforced with the threat of five years in prison.
Warner on Tuesday evening uploaded to Instagram a poignant drawing from his eldest daughter Ivy Mae pleading for her ‘daddy to come home right away’.
Warner and his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates were hours earlier plunged into lockdown after one of their players, Wriddhiman Saha, returned a positive COVID-19 test.
Cummins meanwhile said he was ‘hopeful’ the travel ban would expire as planned on May 15, but admitted Australia’s cricket stars were feeling anxious about being barred from coming home.
Pat Cummins (pictured with partner Becky) is in lockdown in India after several IPL teammates tested positive to coronavirus. He admitted Australia’s cricket stars were feeling anxious about being barred from coming home
Speaking for the first time from his quarantine hotel room, Cummins said he was shocked by Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s comments that those who returned from India faced jail time.
‘Once we flew out of Australia we knew we were signing up for 14 days quarantine coming home, so you always feel that little bit further away from getting home,’ he told The Back Page on Tuesday night.
‘As soon as the hard border shut, obviously no-one has experienced that before. It added a bit of anxiety for a few of the Aussies over here.
‘But we signed up to play the tournament until the start of June. Hopefully it all reopens on May 15 and we’ll be able to get back.’
Cummins is currently in isolation with the rest of the Kolkata Knight Riders team after two of their teammates tested positive to Covid-19.
He said it was unclear whether the IPL – which originally took place across India – will be cancelled or moved to a city hub.
‘I’m hearing postponements, cancellations, maybe moving to Mumbai,’ Cummins said.
Speaking from his quarantine hotel room on Tuesday night, Pat Cummins (pictured) admitted he’d been surprised by the Prime Minister’s comments that Aussies returning from India could face jail time
‘I’ll wait for a release.
‘It seems to be changing every couple of minutes. I think it’s clear there’s a couple of cases at a few different teams. I think over the next couple of hours they’ll make a call about what will happen.’
Former Australian opener Michael Slater, who was working as a commentator, has managed to escape to the Maldives and now must just wait the designated two weeks to return to Australia.
A mass exodus of Australians currently unable to return home may now follow Slater to the tropical island paradise, which is a three-and-half hour flight away as the coronavirus crisis in India worsens.
Australian cricketers looking to flee escape India following the suspension of IPL could flee to the Maldives (pictured) like Michael Slater
Commentator and cricket great Michael Slater (pictured) is currently in the Maldives after fleeing India in recent days
There were about 450 new cases in the Maldives this each day this week, which is dwarfed by the 400,000 infections seen daily in India.
Upon arriving in the Maldives, travellers need only present a negative Covid-19 test from the last 96 hours.
Then they must wait the government-mandated two weeks before flying back to Australia, where they then enter another fortnight of mandatory hotel quarantine.
Cases have soared past 20 million in India since the pandemic began and deaths have surpassed 220,000, with the nation’s health system on the brink of collapse.
The Knight Riders played the Dehli Capitals on April 29 forcing former Australian captain Smith, as well as all-rounder Stoinis and Capitals coaches Ponting and James Hopes, into isolation.
With the IPL suspended indefinitely, officials are working with foreign players’ government to get them repatriated safely.
But with Australia having banned all flights from India, it is not clear what the players’ next step is.
Meanwhile Slater has come under fire after he slammed the federal government from his new current island base on Monday night – a move others could soon follow.
‘If our government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home,’ Slater wrote on Twitter.
‘It’s a disgrace!! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this?
‘How about you sort out quarantine system? I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect.’
Slater doubled down on his tirade in a follow-up tweet after he was inundated with backlash.
Around 9,000 Australians remain stranded in India, where the coronavirus crisis is worsening with around 400,000 new cases a day and hospitals at breaking point
‘For those who think this is a money exercise. Well forget it,’ he wrote.
‘This is what I do for a living and I have not made a penny having left early. So please stop the abuse and think of the thousands dying in India each day. It’s called empathy. If only our government had some.’
Slater has been roasted by many Australians who believe he and others who chose to travel to India did so on their own accord and should face the consequences.
‘So Michael Slater goes into a war zone to chase money. Now when it has gotten out of control, it’s the Australian Government’s fault?’ one Twitter user wrote.
‘Michael Slater can FO attacking the PM when HE went to India to make big cash but now it doesn’t suit him,’ said another.
‘This Michael Slater rant is really something else. He can’t honestly think he went to India knowing what could happen if it went pear shaped?’ wrote a third.
David Warner (pictured with his wife Candice) his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates have also been plunged into a four day lockdown after one of their players, Wriddhiman Saha, returned a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday
Cricket star Warner shared a heartbroken note from his daughter Ivy while he is stranded in India – but could soon make a break for the Maldives
Australian cricket officials were in late night crisis talks on Tuesday following the suspension of the IPL.
‘Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association understand the decision of the BCCI to indefinitely postpone the 2021 Indian Premier League for the safety and wellbeing of all participants,’ a joint statement from CA and ACA read.
It explained that officials were working to ‘ensure the safe accommodation and repatriation of Australian players, coaches, match officials and commentators back home to Australia.’
But the statement also said that association ‘respected the decision of the Australian Government to pause travel from India until at least May 15′ and confirmed it wouldn’t be seeking exemptions for Australian stars.
Michael Slater is already in the island paradise of the Maldives (stock image) – and other Australian players could follow suit
