IPL 2021: Virus-hit India to help move Australians to Sri Lanka or Maldives

Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley: BCCI been incredibly cooperative

People watch the funeral pyres of those who died with Covid-19 at Sahudangi Crematorium. AFP

A medical worker prepares to administer a Covaxin Covid-19 shot at a vaccination centre in New Delhi. A new wave of the pandemic has totally overwhelmed India's healthcare services and has caused crematoriums to operate day and night as the number of victims continues to spiral out of control. Getty

Workers at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv load medical aid to be flown from Israel to India. Reuters

People queue to receive Covid-19 vaccinations in New Delhi. Getty

Relatives at a cremation ground in Allahabad mourn a loved one who died with Covid-19. AFP

Relatives bury the body of a Covid-19 victim at a graveyard in New Delhi. India's official count of coronavirus cases passed 20 million on Tuesday, nearly doubling in the past three months. Deaths have passed 220,000. The true figures are believed to be much higher. AP

A patient collapses outside a Sikh temple providing free medical oxygen to patients in Ghaziabad. AFP

A family member carries a patient breathing with the help of oxygen under a roadside tent in Ghaziabad. AFP

People queue up to get inoculated with a dose of India's Covishield vaccine in Mumbai. AFP

A medical worker inoculates a woman with a dose of the Covishield vaccine at a hospital in Amritsar. AFP

Technicians monitor medical oxygen refilling lines at a supply plant in Ahmedabad, as the demand for medical oxygen increases amid the pandemic. AFP

A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided at a Sikh temple in Ghaziabad. AFP

The Board for Control of Cricket in India will help to move Australia's entire Indian Premier League (IPL) cohort to the Maldives or Sri Lanka, Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley said.

The IPL was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday as Covid-19 crisis continues to ravage the Asian nation, leaving Australian and other foreign participants looking for ways to leave the country.

The Australian government has banned travellers from India who have been in the country within the prior 14 days but CA interim chief executive Hockley said the players would wait outside India for approval to head home.

"So what we're working to do and what the BCCI are working to do, and they've been incredibly cooperative, is working to move the entire cohort out of India," Hockley told reporters in Sydney.

"That's now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The BCCI are working through the final details of that at the moment and we expect that movement will happen in the next two to three days."

Hockley added that the Indian board had also committed to arranging a charter plane to bring the Australian cricketers home.

Australia has banned travellers from India until May 15.

The Australian Cricketers' Association confirmed former Australia batsman Mike Hussey, a coach at Chennai Super Kings, had tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier, Australia vice captain Pat Cummins, part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad, told Fox Sports the Australian government's decision to ban its own citizens from travelling home had added "anxiety for a few of the Aussies over here".