IPL 2021: Most PBKS team members reach home safely, few quarantining outside India
IPL franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) have informed that most of their players have reached home 'safely'. PBKS further revealed that a few team members are still quarantining outside India and will head back to their respective countries soon.
IPL 2021 got indefinitely postponed after the T20 league was plagued by a spate of COVID cases emerging in the bio-bubbles of various teams. In the immediate aftermath of the tournament's postponement, the BCCI and the IPL governing council assured to make necessary arrangements to send back all the players home safely.
Releasing an official statement on Twitter, PBKS provided an update about their players:
"Following the suspension of IPL 2021, all PBKS team members have reached home safely, while a few are quarantining outside India before they head back to their respective countries."
PBKS also thanked the BCCI and other IPL franchises for their support while urging everyone to follow social distancing norms in the midst of the second COVID-19 wave. The PBKS statement further said:
"We would like to thank the BCCI, other IPL franchises and our airline partner GoAir for their cooperation. To all our fans, we request you to wear masks, follow social distancing norms and hygiene protocols. We are in it together. Stay safe!"
While IPL 2021 has been suspended for now, according to reports, the BCCI is mulling completing the tournament in the September window before the T20 World Cup gets underway in October-November.
PBKS shared emotional video after IPL 2021 postponement
Earlier, PBKS shared a touching video on their official Twitter account after IPL 2021 got postponed indefinitely.
The clip featured messages from a few PBKS team members, who expressed hope of the tournament resuming in the near future. Shahrukh Khan, who made his IPL debut for PBKS this season, said:
“It was a bit of a shock for everyone when it got suspended. We are all looking forward to the next leg of the tournament, which we feel is not too far away. We are going to play the next leg very shortly. For all the Punjab Kings fans out there, keep supporting us. We’ll come out all guns blazing in the next leg, come out fresh, and we will be there to entertain you.”
PBKS opener Mayank Agarwal added that the franchise would take a lot of positives from the first half of IPL 2021, saying:
“We put in a few good performances, and off the field, we bonded really well. We made a lot of good memories with all the players together. We made some good friends, and we had some fun team activities, which was nice to have a lot of fun off the field.”
PBKS played eight matches in IPL 2021 before the tournament got postponed, winning three and losing five.