Umpire Nitin Menon has left the Indian Premier League (IPL) to return home in Indore as his family members down with with coronavirus.
“His mother, wife are down with Covid-19. His mother has been admitted to a hospital in Indore. His father is unwell too and is also suspected to have Covid-19. He has a small child, around four or five years of age, so it was important for him to return and tend to family,” an official told IANS.
Paul Reiffell from Australia had also pulled out of the tournament. He was just minutes away from leaving the IPL bio-bubble before he learnt that flights to Australia via Doha have been cancelled. Now Paul Reiffell is in India and will leave along with the remaining Australian players post IPL.
“I tried to, but the flight through Doha, I wasn’t able to go through as an Australian,” Reiffel was quoted as saying by the Herald and The Age on Thursday from his Ahmedabad hotel.
“They shut the avenue off. I know a couple of the guys (Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, and Andrew Tye) got back that way through there, but the avenue was closed so I had to stay. Yesterday, I was booked to go, but it got cancelled. I thought I’d take the opportunity when I could because you don’t know what’s going to happen later on.”