Mumbai Indians (MI) fielding coach James Pamment revealed that some of the senior Indian players were not too happy with the restrictions during the now postponed IPL 2021.
The IPL 14 was indefinitely postponed on May 4 after COVID-19 cases emerged in multiple teams. Coronavirus cases emerged in the camps of KKR, CSK, DC, and SRH which forced BCCI to halt the cash-rich league after 29 games.
Most of the players including the Kiwi contingent have safely reached their respective destinations. James Pamment, who reached New Zealand on Saturday, recalled how some senior Indian members of the Mumbai Indians (MI) detested restrictions.
He added that they felt safe in their bio-secure bubble.
IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians reveals travel plans; Indian players start journey to home safely
“Some of the senior Indian guys don't like being restricted and told what to do, but we did feel safe – at no point did we feel the bubble would be compromised, the challenge was the travel,” James Pamment told stuff.co.NZ.
Pamment also recalled how some of the Indian players carried on playing in the tournament despite bereavements in their families.
“But we started to get Indian guys in our environment whose families were very sick. There were bereavements as well and we were taking a bit of a cue from those guys who were saying 'no, we want to carry on and the messages were coming back that this is a good distraction,” he said.
Pamment further recalled seeing ambulances on the roads and locals struggling to meet their medical requirements on television.
“Yes, you do see ambulances occasionally on the roads, but what you do see more of when you're driving around the streets are people waving at you, people queueing up to watch you train through a fence.
“It's not like you're in a war-zone, but you could see the TV pictures and know there's people here struggling to get the medical need,” he concluded.
Coming to the tournament, MI after a shaky start was back to winning ways. With 4 wins out of their seven matches, the Rohit Sharma-led franchise was placed fourth on the points table.
(ANI/ stuff.co.nz inputs)
