Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Andrew Tye is baffled to see the 8 franchises and sponsors spend so much money during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 even as India continues to reel under the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
IPL 2021 is being played in strict bio-bubble environments across 6 major cities in India, which registered over 3.23 lakh cases and 2,771 fatalities on Tuesday.
Tye, who played just 1 match for RR in IPL 2021, returned home to Australia on Sunday citing personal reasons. The Australian government was considering banning all flights from India when Tye made the decision to return home as he feared that he would be "locked out" of his own country.
"Looking at it from an Indian point of view, how are these companies and franchises spending so much money, and the government, on the IPL when there's people not being able to get accepted into hospital?" Tye was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Tye however, went on to add that the tournament should continue if it is bringing some relief to the fans all around the world in these tough times.
"If sport can continue and be one of those avenues to relieve stress or give a glimmer of hope that the world is OK and there is light at the end of the tunnel, I think it should go ahead. But I know that's not everyone's feelings and I completely respect everyone's views from all angles," the 34-year-old said.
Fellow Australians and Royal Challengers Bangalore players Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa decided to follow in Tye's footsteps and decided to leave the tournament mid-way on Monday. The 3 cricketers left just in time as the Australian government on Tuesday banned all commercial flights to the country from India amid the Covid crisis here.
Tye said he made the decision to return mainly because of the horrible situation in India.
"There was a number of reasons, but the main one was with the situation that has started to happen back home in Perth with a lot of cases in hotel quarantine coming out of India," Tye told 'SEN radio' from Doha on Monday.
"Now there's been a community case in Perth governments are trying to restrict numbers coming back in, especially Western Australia," Tye said.
5 players have withdrawn from the IPL 2021 mid-way into the season which includes Tye, Richardson, Zampa, Liam Livingstone and Ravichandran Ashwin. RR's Livingstone cited bubble fatigue while DC spinner Ashwin said he wanted to help his family fight against Covid-19 as the reason behind his decision.
