Cummins states playing T20 World Cup in India amid raging pandemic as ‘unsafe’
The Indian Premier League 2021 got postponed in the middle due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. BCCI is also looking at other windows to wrap up the remaining season as soon as possible. Apart from IPL 2021, there is another big event coming up which is T20 World Cup that has to be hosted in India. Keeping in mind the grim situation in India, Australian pacer Pat Cummins has kept his point of view.
Cummins has stated that India should not host the T20 WC as it would ‘drain the Indian resources’ amid the raging pandemic and will also be ‘unsafe.’ Pat Cummins earlier contributed to India’s fight against COVID-19 and added that the nation has always welcomed him all the love and it doesn’t feel good to see people suffering like this.
“If it’s going to be a drain on resources or it’s not going to be safe, then I don’t think it’s right to play it over here. That’s the first question which needs to be answered,” said Cummins as quoted by the ‘Age’ newspaper.
The Australian star added that authorities and officials should check once with the Indian government and take decisions accordingly. However, he added that it is very early for anything to say now as the tournament is around six months away. However, India is still looking out at other venues to host the tournament.
The IPL in the UAE last year was brilliant: Pat Cummins
“The IPL in the UAE last year was brilliant, it was really well run, but millions of people were saying it should have been played in India, so what do you do? You can see both sides. They set up this tournament with all the best advice,” Cummins added.
The KKR all-rounder stated that the UAE edition of the IPL was conducted in a very smooth manner and even there was a lot less staff around the players. He also threw light on how half of their Indian KKR suffered from COVID-19 at some point in their lives.
Pat Cummins feels that the IPL helped to keep people at home
The Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite the best efforts taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the 2021 IPL season had to be suspended after players from different teams were infected with Covid-19.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) pacer Pat Cummins has stated that he never felt unsafe when he was in India. Cummins further said that the pandemic is huge news in India.
The Australian pacer also added that he felt that he was detached from all the news surrounding the pandemic and was placed in comfortable hotels. Cummins even stated that he should have done more for the people around him.
“Seeing the media from back home, it [India’s pandemic] is huge news, and rightly so given what India is going through, but I’ve never felt unsafe here. I’ve felt quite helpless and quite detached from it all being kept in comfortable hotels. We were playing games and training like every other year. It just felt that I should be doing more for the people around us,” said Pat Cummins as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Pat Cummins also added that continuing with the 14th edition of the IPL was indeed the right call. Cummins said that even though some people in Australia opined that the IPL should not go on amidst the Covid-19 crisis in India, the people in India were appreciative of the fact that they would get 4 hours every night to watch the IPL.
“The first thing I wanted to do was make sure playing the IPL was the right call. Speaking to people back home, some had the view that it didn’t seem right cricket was going on over here in amongst all the COVID cases. But the response I was getting from people in India was the opposite. They all said that with so many people in lockdown they really appreciate the fact that for three or four hours each night they can watch the IPL,” said Cummins.
Cummins further stated that the IPL gives people a routine and he wanted to help the Indian people by giving them something back in return. The 27-year-old concluded by stating that there were millions of people who felt that the IPL should have been played in India.
“It gives people a routine, it helps to keep them in homes. Everyone thought it was a positive the IPL was still going on. I wondered what could I do? India has been so good to me for so long as a player. The people are amazing. I wanted to try and help out and give back a little bit.
The IPL in the UAE last year was brilliant, it was really well run, but millions of people were saying it should have been played in India, so what do you do? You can see both sides. They set up this tournament with all the best advice,” concluded Cummins.
