Australian IPL Cricketers Land In Sydney After Fleeing Covid-Hit India

Australian cricketers who played in the IPL landed in Sydney on Monday after being stranded in the Maldives due to a ban on arrivals from India.

Australian cricketers arrived back in Sydney on a charter flight Monday, more than a week after fleeing Covid-stricken India for the Maldives, local media reported. Cricket authorities had been rushing to evacuate players and support staff after the lucrative Indian Premier League was suspended earlier this month as coronavirus cases surged in the country. National broadcaster ABC reported that players including Steve Smith and David Warner were on board an Air Seychelles plane that touched down in Sydney about 7:30 am local time. A group of 38 players, coaches, officials and TV commentators had reportedly been staying in the Maldives, after leaving India on May 6 aboard a charter flight arranged and paid for by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Two days ago the Australian government lifted a temporary ban that threatened citizens attempting to return from India with jail, paving the way for the group to return.