Delhi, April 27: Amid the heart wrenching COVID-19 situation in India , the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going on in full flow amid lot of criticism , but now the insiders including Delhi Capitals coach have also admitted that players are also going through difficult times.
Coming open and admitting it, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has said that the situation outside the IPL 2021 bubble is quite “grim” and has also urged his players to not shy away from having conversations on the same to remain calm.
“This IPL, probably more than any other, has become more about what’s happening on the outside than what’s happening here. We right now are probably the safest people in the country being in the bubbles that we are in,” Ponting said in a video posted on Delhi Capitals’ Twitter handle.
“Continuously, I’m asking the boys at breakfast every day how’s everything going on the outside, how’s family, is your family safe? Is family happy?” he further said.
“And look I think that’s a really important thing and we talk here at the Delhi Capitals about being one big family. It is really important. We are thinking about the extended family, not just us, but we’ve got to be talking about what’s happening outside because it is quite grim,” he added.
The former Australia captain also added that it must be incredibly difficult for players to be in the same city as their families and still not get to meet them because of bio-bubble protocols
“Yes, it is hard for the players to be away from their families. I can’t imagine, even if I put myself in this situation, guys that live in Chennai are actually home now, but can’t see their families. It must be incredibly difficult,” said Ponting.
“So the more we can share these experiences, the better off we are. The people that aren’t from India, we can be talking to the locals about what they are going through.
“We will just keep our fingers crossed. And hope people remain safe. That’s a big thing for me, the players are taking the best care of their families where they can from the outside. And we look after what we can do here,” Ponting added.
The Covid-19 pandemic has gripped India and the country has been reporting more than 3,00,000 new cases every day. This is the most number of cases being reported since the pandemic broke out in 2020.