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Cricket Australia backs players reluctant to return to India with IPL slated to resume

Australian cricketers will weigh up whether they return to India for the remainder of the Indian Premier League season after the BCCI announced the tournament would resume this weekend during a ceasefire in the conflict between India and Pakistan.

The IPL was suspended on Friday night amid heightened tensions between the neighbouring countries and many of the Australians involved in the tournament have since returned home.

Alyssa Healy, who was in Dharamsala with her husband Mitchell Starc on Thursday when his Delhi Capitals’ game was abandoned midway through, said the experience was “terrifying”.

Healy and Starc arrived back in Sydney on Sunday and the fast bowler, along with the rest of the Australian cohort which includes national team skipper Pat Cummins, must now make a decision on whether to return to India to see out the IPL’s remaining games.

Cricket Australia said on Tuesday they would back players in whatever they decide, but the issue is complicated by next month’s World Test Championship final which takes place in London.

Starc, Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis are in contention to be selected for the WTC decider against South Africa starting on 11 June. While Cummins and Head, who play for Sunrisers Hyderabad and are out of playoff contention, have just three games left, an extended run beyond the regular season is still possible for the teams of Inglis, Starc and Marsh.

Given the delay in the IPL – the rescheduled final will now be played on 3 June, just a week before the start of the WTC final in London – CA is now faced with a potential logistical conundrum, but a spokesperson said the safety of players was paramount.

“Following the announcement that the IPL will resume on Saturday, Cricket Australia will support players in their individual decisions whether to return to India or not,” a CA spokesperson said.

“Team management will work through preparation implications for the World Test Championship final for those players who choose to play in the remaining IPL matches. We are maintaining communication with the Australian government and BCCI around security arrangements and safety.”

The fixture between Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings and Starc’s Capitals, which was dramatically abandoned midway through the first innings as air raid sirens went off nearby, will be replayed as one of 13 remaining group matches.

The ground in Dharamsala was plunged into darkness on Thursday night as the lights went out and players, staff and supporters were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Healy said it was “a surreal experience”.

“There was a lot of anxiety around the Australian group because we didn’t have a whole heap of information as to what was going on,” Healy said on The Willow podcast. “That’s probably the scariest part of this whole situation, the misinformation.

“[We were] quite close to what’s being fought over, but we were assured, ‘Everything was fine, everything is OK. It’s miles away, the game will go ahead and everything will be fine’.

“At the end of the day, they evacuated the stadium as a precaution, which was fine, but it was probably a little bit too close for comfort.”

The escalating tensions forced the BCCI to put the tournament on hold, but it is now slated to recommence on 17 May local time.

“After extensive consultations with government and security agencies, and with all the key stakeholders, the board has decided to proceed with the remainder of the season,” the BCCI said in a statement.

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