AUCKLAND, May 25: New Zealand cricketer Tim Seifert’s world stopped for a moment and heart sank when he tested positive for COVID-19 during the now suspended IPL but the wicket-keeper said he never felt vulnerable inside the tournament’s bio-bubble.
Seifert, however, insisted that his COVID-19 ordeal will not deter him from travelling to India again for future assignments, including the T20 World Cup to be held later this year.
“I got pulled aside and told I’d tested positive and my heart sank straight away when everyone left. I was the only overseas player basically still left in India out of the whole tournament. That’s when things got a little bit real,” an emotional Seifert told the New Zealand Herald.
Seifert was all praise for the IPL bubble though.
“Talking to some of the English boys that were over there before the IPL … everything that they were saying was doing well. You only kind of heard good things, the structures, all the plans that have been put in place,” Seifert was quoted as saying by New Zealand Herald.
“That was a good point of view for a player to go over there, and to be honest the whole time while I was over there (in India), the bubble felt good… felt safe.”
Seifert, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the IPL, is presently undergoing his 14-day mandatory quarantine here following his return to New Zealand after recovering from the deadly virus.
He had to stay back in India even after the suspension of the league as he contracted the virus just 24 hours before he was to fly back home with fellow New Zealand players.
His statement was in contrast to some other IPL players, including Australian Adam Zampa, who said he felt vulnerable inside the bio-bubble.
He thanked former Kiwi stars Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming as well as KKR and Chennai Super Kings franchises for making life easier for him during his recovery period in Chennai. (PTI)
