Knight Riders (KKR) fast bowler Sandeep Warrier revealed how Bollywood actor and franchise’s co-owner Shahrukh Khan stayed in touch with the players after COVID-19 cases emerged in bio-bubble during IPL 2021.
With IPL 14 being postponed by the BCCI, Kolkata Knight Riders were the first franchise that reported COVID-19 cases in its bio-bubble. Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were two players who tested positive for the deadly virus.
However, after that several players and support staff from various franchises returned positive for the virus which forced governing body to halt the marque tournament.
In an interaction with NEWS 18, KKR speedster Sandeep Warrier said that support staff stayed back for him and Varun Chakravarthy and left after they tested negative. He added that in a virtual meeting everyone asked about them.
"Our team doctor, Shrikant, and our manager (Wayne Bentley) and Raju (logistics) were staying back for me and Varun. They left only after we came negative. So we were fine.
“After we tested positive, we had to isolate the whole team. The next day, IPL was called off. We had a virtual meeting in which everyone was asking about me and Varun,” Sandeep Warrier told News 18.
Warrier revealed that co-owner Shahrukh Khan also spoke to them and assured them that every player will be taken back home safely and was very adamant that someone should stay with him and Varun for one week.
“Shah Rukh sir also spoke to everyone saying you all will be taken back home safely and that there is nothing to worry about. For me and Varun, he was very adamant that there should be someone with us for the whole one week or 10 days after the tournament ended. Venky (Mysore, CEO) sir also stayed back for three days,” he said.
Warrier said he has started his training. He also revealed that when he tested positive for Covid-19, the severity wasn't very high and he could recover quickly.
He, however, added that he's currently the post-covid symptoms are taking a major toll on him, to the effect that he isn't able to train properly as well.
"I’ve been training for the past week. I am feeling a lot better now. The advantage was that, even in the first test where I came positive (for COVID-19), my reading was very low. In the first RT-PCR test itself, my reading was around 25. By the second test itself, it came to 31.
“In the subsequent tests, it came negative. The COVID effect was not very high, but I feel the post-covid has affected me quite a bit. I have been training for the last one week, and that alone is taking a toll on me," he said.
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Sandeep Warrier said that he was asymptomatic and further talked about his recovery process and admitted that he feels tired after a training session.
"Before COVID when I was with the KKR team, training was not difficult. I guess it will take a week or so more to be back on track. During COVID, I didn’t have many symptoms.
“After that, after I started training, breathing was a bit difficult. I was getting tired easily, I’m still recovering from a training perspective," he concluded.
It is, however, learned that IPL 2021 is likely to resume in September-October in UAE.
(News 18 inputs)
