Kane Williamson forced into extreme measures to avoid India's COVID-19 outbreak

Publish Date
Wednesday, 28 April 2021, 7:08AM
Instagram

Instagram

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson has clearly illustrated the lengths to which players in the Indian Premier League are going to avoid the country's rampant rate of Covid-19 infections.

On Tuesday, India broke the world record for daily Covid-19 infections for a fifth consecutive day, reporting nearly 353,000 new cases. And it added 2,812 deaths to its overall toll of more than 195,000, which experts say may be a vast undercount.

However, Twenty20 cricket's premier domestic competition continues to run without major disruption; though cracks are starting to appear in player confidence.

Australian cricketers Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa have returned to their home country after expressing fears that they would not be able to return if they left the decision much longer.

Indeed, those fears came to fruition on Tuesday afternoon when Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a complete halt on flights to and from India into Australia until May 15.

Those players left in India are apparently now subjected to extreme measures in order to stay within their bubbles, as Williamson and fellow Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman David Warner showed on Tuesday.

Warner posted a photo to his Instagram account which showed both players in full PPE outfits that included hooded protective suits and full-face coverings along with the understated caption "stay safe".

The pair were in the midst of travelling from Chennai to Delhi which involved a plane flight and, thus, some extreme safety precautions.

Despite the recent departures of Tye, Richardson and Zampa, New Zealand's IPL contingent of ten players currently show no signs of giving up on their time in India.

New Zealand Cricket says it is in close contact with all those players in India and their respective teams and is communicating with the ICC and the England and Wales Cricket Board about how to safely manage logistics for those players expected to fly to England for the Black Caps June fixtures.

NZC said they have contingencies organised should they be needed.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you