Coronavirus pandemic may make it tough for family members to travel with players.
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 is all set to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this September. Players will be leaving for the tournament soon as per the arrangements from their respective franchises.
IPL is like a festival in Indian cricket and when the tournament kicks off we can see the enthusiasm around the country. Even players feel like the same. Sometimes their family members like to travel with them for the entire tournaments.
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But considering the current situation around the world, there is no clarity whether BCCI will let the family members travel with players this time.
India cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, who will be playing for Delhi Capitals this season, said the safety of the family is very important and BCCI will take the decision whether they will be allowed to travel or not. It will be discussed in the IPL Governing Council meeting which will happen on Sunday.
"As an individual, you take Covid-19 situation aside, you would want your family to travel with you, but because of this situation, safety is important, the safety of your wife, family, and daughter, obviously the safety of your teammates is really important," Rahane told Boria Majumdar, Consulting Editor, Sports, India Today Group.
"Right now, I feel first health and then cricket is really important. We had a good 4-5 months with our family (during the lockdown).
"As I said, the safety of our family, the safety of our players, and the safety of each and every individual are important. The decision is completely up to the franchises and the BCCI. But as I said, there is still corona around, you got to think about each and every individual, think about your family especially about my wife and daughter. Safety is really important.
"I don't know what decisions they are going to take but if you take this Covid-19 situation aside, you want your family to be there with you to support you whenever you are on the tour."
This will be Rahane's first season for Rahane with Delhi Capitals and he is excited to play under Ricky Ponting's coaching.
"I am really excited to play for Delhi Capitals. I got an opportunity. Last year when I was playing for Hampshire, Delhi Capitals asked me if I was interested in playing for them. I took my time and I thought it's an opportunity for me to learn something new. To take my game forward, to take my T20 game forward.
"Obviously, Dada (Sourav Ganguly who worked as a mentor in IPL 2019) is not there, Aa that time my focus was if I could play under Dada and Ricky Ponting I could learn many things. As a cricketer, that's what you want.
"They have an exciting bunch of players, everyone is a match-winner. Really excited."