NZC monitoring travel ban situation and in contact with IPL franchises

New Zealand on Thursday temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India following a surge in COVID-19 cases arriving from there, local media reported.

Wellington: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is monitoring the situation regarding the travel ban from India due to the surge in the coronavirus cases and are in contact with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises.

New Zealand on Thursday temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India following a surge in COVID-19 cases arriving from there, local media reported.

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The ban comes after it was reported that 17 of the 23 new COVID-19 cases in managed isolation announced on Thursday had arrived from India. The ban will commence on Sunday and will remain in place until April 28, New Zealand Herald reported.

“We’re monitoring the situation and are in contact with the IPL franchises to keep the lines of communication open, because the tournament’s due to go for some time,” New Zealand Herald quoted NZC public affairs manager Richard Boock as saying.

“We’re prepared to discuss all contingencies, if the situation warrants. For argument’s sake, if it occurred with one of the test players, it might make more sense for them to continue on to England [for the test tour and world championship final],” he added.

Eight Kiwi players are currently in India for the 14th edition of the IPL which gets underway from Friday with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern too has come out and said the safety of these eight players: Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Seifert, Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson-is NZC’s responsibility.

“Ultimately these decisions around travel into high-risk countries generally will come down to individuals, but also if it’s a workforce, their employers. So those are judgements they need to make,” she said at yesterday’s announcement.