Kane Richardson preparing for the IPL despite uncertainty
Australian pacer Kane Richardson, who was quarantined for a suspected COVID-19(Novel coronavirus) infection said that he thought it was all a joke at first. The fast bowler from down under felt symptoms akin to a COVID-19 infection prior to the first ODI between Australia and New Zealand. However, he was cleared of the suspicion after tests. Recalling the incident, Richardson told “I was at risk because I’d travelled overseas within the previous two weeks and I had one of the four symptoms, so that was the reason I got tested” while speaking to Cricket Australia’s 'The Unplayable Podcast’.
“I thought it was all a joke at the time, but (the team doctor) was adamant it wasn’t. He spoke to various people on the phone to make sure he was doing the right thing and got the biggest swab I’ve ever seen out and stuck it into the back of my nose and my mouth, so it wasn’t a pleasurable experience. But that was the protocol so I was happy to go along with it.”
Richardson was not optimistic of the results and feared the worst “I wasn’t expecting a positive result, and thankfully, that’s what happened. I’m all god and I got the OK to go outside and in the fresh air again.”
Richardson was one of seventeen Australians to hold an IPL contract. There’s an air of uncertainty over the league which was scheduled to begin on 29th March 2020, but has since been postponed till at least 15th of April owing to the pandemic. The Aussie fast bowler also spoke on how he is approaching the uncertain circumstance “We are just waiting to hear (on IPL). A lot of blokes have opinions - ‘It’s going to get cancelled’, this and that - but again it can change in a day or a week, so I’ll just sit by the phone and get ready to play for the 15th at the moment - that’s what I’m thinking.”
“(The Australian players) were all sitting around chatting about it. It’s happened out of nowhere. A lot of us were going to be away from now till the end of the IPL, so to now be sitting at home with absolutely no idea when the next game of cricket is going to be for any of us, just shows how quickly this has grown.”
Richardson, thought that it was the right call to call off all cricketing activity. “Even a week ago we were flying back from South Africa and there was no thought of coronavirus at all in the air or when we got back to the airport. It is hard to believe we are sitting here at home with everything being cancelled, but when you watch the news and see what’s going on in the world, it’s definitely the right call.”
“I think the main issue a lot of the boys had was travelling away from home and if you happen to catch it, you’re stuck in a hotel room for two weeks. That’s the sticking point I reckon a lot of the guys were uncomfortable with.” added Richardson.
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