Du Plessis proposes two weeks' quarantine for T20 World Cup

The South Africa batsman admits travel will be an issue despite Australia being less affected by COVID-19.

Faf du Plessis at the Kolkata airport on March 17. The ODI series between India and South Africa was cancelled due to the pandemic. - PTI

Veteran South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has proposed a two-week quarantine period for players before and after the T20 World Cup as a way to stage the event as per schedule later this year.

Like other sports, cricketing action, too, has come to a complete halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fate of the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November is uncertain. Talking to captain Tamim Iqbal on Facebook , du Plessis said travel was going to be an issue despite Australia being less affected by the deadly contagion.

'Health risk'

“I am not sure... reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lot of countries and they are talking about December or January. Even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it’s a health risk to them,” du Plessis said.

“But you can go in before the tournament [for] two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation,” said the former captain.

Several countries across the globe, including South Africa, Australia and India, have travel restrictions in place and the veteran Proteas batsman joked travelling by boat is not an option. “But I don’t know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can’t go there like old days on boats,” du Plessis said.

In March, South Africa’s ODI series against India was called off after the first match in view of the pandemic.