NEW DELHI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday due to the Covid-19 crisis in the country, leaving many international players with major concerns over how they will return home.

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) and the league’s governing council members convened an emergency meeting at which they decided to suspend the tournament with immediate effect.

The BCCI had forged ahead with the league despite fierce criticism for staging it in a country where coronavirus infections surged past 20 million on Tuesday.

“These are difficult times, especially in India, and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times,” the league said in a statement. “The BCCI will do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021.”

The eight-team IPL, with an estimated brand value of $6.8 billion, is the richest Twenty20 league and attracts many of the best players from around the world to cricket-crazy India.

“The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff and the other participants involved in organising the IPL,” it added.

As many as 57 foreign players, including 14 Australians, are currently stuck in India along with dozens of support staff.

IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said it was too early to say when the league, originally scheduled to culminate in a May 30 final in Ahmedabad, could resume.

“We are looking for another window,” Patel said. “Right now we can’t say when we can reschedule it.”

A suspension looked almost inevitable after Monday’s game in Ahmedabad had to be postponed after two Kolkata Knight Riders players — Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier — tested positive for Covid-19.

The Chennai Super Kings added in a statement on Tuesday that its bowling coach L. Balaji and a member of the side’s travel support staff tested positive after undergoing tests in New Delhi on Sunday, while prompting questions about the robustness of the league’s bio-bubble arrangements.

The abrupt suspension left foreign players, including England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan and Australia’s Steve Smith and David Warner, with a major headache.

Australia has banned all arrivals from India until May 15 and England has added India to its travel ‘red’ list.

In a letter to the franchises last month, the league assured them they would discuss the foreign players’ travel arrangements with the Indian government.

Cricket Australia declined to comment when asked if it had any plans to try and bring its players home.

Hours before the league was suspended, the Australian Cricketers’ Association said it would talk to the Australian government about the players’ travel plans.

Australian players Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson cut short their IPL stints to return home last week.

India has reported more than 20 million infections so far, with just over 222,000 deaths.

BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said that the governing body would ‘make the arrangements’ for the IPL’s international players to leave India.

“About the foreign players, as we have said, we will try and ensure all of them get to their homes,” he said.

Cricket Australia said in a statement that it was in touch with the BCCI to “ensure the safe accommodation and repatriation of Australian players, coaches, match officials and commentators back home”.

The IPL has been running since early April, even as India’s health care system has been overwhelmed by a vicious second wave of virus cases.

This prompted criticism from some who said it was inappropriate, given the suffering in the country, while others defended it as a welcome distraction.

Eight teams have been playing behind closed doors in six cities including Delhi and Mumbai, both badly hit by the pandemic.

One unnamed franchise, meanwhile, told The Times of India it had approached the BCCI and said: “You can host it after three months, five months, six months. It doesn’t matter. But right now, it needs to stop.” Broadcaster Star India was also in favour of the suspension, the newspaper added.

Ex-England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who has been commentating on the IPL, tweeted after the announcement that it was ‘heartbreaking to see a country I love so much suffering’.

“You WILL get through this! You WILL be stronger coming out of this! Your kindness & generosity NEVER goes unnoticed even during this crisis! #IncredibleIndia,” he wrote.

Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle said he hoped the competition would return ‘stronger when the world is what we knew it to be’.

“I guess it became inevitable in the last couple of days. Look forward to calling the action in happier times,” he tweeted.

The postponement of the IPL throws into the doubt the International Cricket Council’s T20 World Cup set to be staged in India in October and November. The UAE has already been suggested as an alternative host.

The ICC had to cancel the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia because of the pandemic. Rather than push the schedule back by 12 months, cricket’s international governing body decided to stage the 2021 edition in India and return to Australia for the 2022 tournament.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2021