AUCKLAND, May 11: Mumbai Indians fielding coach James Pamment has claimed that some senior Indian players did not like being subjected to restrictions inside the currently suspended IPL’s bio-bubble but it felt completely safe till the time cases from participating teams hadn’t come to light.
Pamment did not elaborate on his assertion about the Indian players and did not take any names either. The IPL was suspended on May 4.
“Some of the senior Indian guys don’t like being restricted and told what to do,” he was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
“But we did feel safe – at no point did we feel the bubble would be compromised … We felt the travel was always going to be a challenge,”
The New Zealander, a former Northern Districts coach, said he and the MI players started to feel apprehensive shortly before the competition was halted.
“It was when cases started to come with the teams. They were a little more fearful, a little more apprehensive,” said the 52-year-old, who returned home on Saturday.
Pamment said at no stage did he feel his health was going to be put in jeopardy within the bubble set up by MI at a Mumbai hotel.
He said long before the suspension of IPL, he was aware of the pandemic getting worse in India and the event should not have been spread across six venues.
He also said that allowing 70,000 spectators in Ahmedabad for Test matches against England “was a little irresponsible and now Ahmedabad is a hot-bed of COVID”. (PTI)
