Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Pat Cummins shed light on the COVID-19 situation in India, which led to the suspension of the IPL 2021.
Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Pat Cummins, who was lauded by one and all a few days ago for coming forward and generously contributing to help India in their fight against the COVID-19 virus amid crisis by donating $50000, has said that playing in the IPL was the right call, despite the response from due to the situation in India.
Cummins said that he has never felt unsafe in India but the destruction caused by the pandemic in India is huge news back in Australia. Talking about his decision of playing in the IPL and donation to The Sydney Morning Herald, Cummins said, "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,” he said. “We were playing games and training like every other year. It just felt that I should be doing more for the people around us," he said.
Elaborating on his decision of playing the IPL and why it was important in the context that it served as a distraction for people for a few hours daily, the 27-year old said, “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 see 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," he added.
Now with the IPL being suspended due to the deteriorating situation in India, there are huge question marks over the ICC T20 World Cup, which is being slated to organised in India later this year in October-November.
Asked if the T20 World Cup should be moved considering the horrific situation in India, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Cummins said that it was too early to say given that it is still six months away. However, he did say, "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."
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