CHENNAI: India’s star batsman
Rohit Sharma says he’s lucky to be playing cricket at a time when many, dwelling exterior the security of bio-safe bubbles, are struggling to do their favorite actions.
On the eve of the 14th IPL, 5-time defending champions
Mumbai Indians‘ skipper Rohit spoke about life inside a bubble, a brand new regular necessitated by the raging
COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of people are going through hard times, a lot of people are not able to work, not able to do what they like to. At least we are lucky that we are getting to do what we like,” Rohit mentioned in a video, which was posted by his franchise on Twitter.
“At least I am happy playing cricket which is what I love at the end of the day. If we have to adjust, we have to adjust. And try and see how you can get the best out of, you know, this bubble life as well,” India’s white-ball vice-captain added on Thursday.
In a a lot-awaited opener, MI will tackle Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore on the MA Chidambaram Stadium right here.
He mentioned the nation’s memorable current triumphs in opposition to robust groups akin to England and Australia will give Indian cricket lots of confidence going forward.
“… The whole world has seen what we did there in Australia. The performance we put in as a team was so pleasing to see, especially by the younger players who have just come into the squad. Taking up the responsibility, rising to the occasion, which was so great to see.
“So that was Australia after which we had been playing England in India. Again, beating England in all three codecs. All the gamers put their arms up.
“England is a very, very competitive side and they have done really well in the last few years. And to beat a team like that gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,” the prolific scorer mentioned.
Rohit additionally recalled the instances spent inside a bubble within the UAE throughout final 12 months’s IPL.
“For me it was a little tough because I was injured during the IPL and I had to go back and get my hamstring sorted. So it wasn’t easy and then we had a very challenging tour of Australia after that and I missed quite a bit of it.
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In Pics – Bio-bubbles, training sessions and the COVID scare: Build-up to IPL 2021
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The 14th edition of the world’s biggest T20 franchise cricket tournament — the Indian Premier League is all set to commence from April 9 with the defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener in Chennai. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
After conducting a successful 13th edition in the United Arab Emirates, the BCCI this time decided to go ahead with the tournament on home soil with 6 cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, hosting the cricketing extravaganza. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
The players from the 8 different franchises began assembling at the venues post March 20, while the members of Team India, who were engaged in a bilateral series with England only joined their franchises after wrapping up the series after March 28. (Photo credit: MI Twitter)
After completing the necessary quarantine periods, the players and support staff joined their respective bio-secure bubbles and began training for the fiercest T20 franchise battle.(Photo credit: RCB Twitter)
While MI, RCB, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders have current bio-bubbles setup in Chennai. KKR moved to Chennai from Mumbai where their initial bubble was created. The other four teams — Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings have their current bubbles in Mumbai for the first phase of the tournament. (Photo credit: CSK Twitter)
Maintaining mandatory Covid protocols, players began their hustle at the training facilities inside their bio-bubble while chalking out strategies with the support staff. (Photo credit: RR Twitter)
While Team India players had regular match practice — coming into the tournament after playing a couple of bilateral series — it was the domestic players, who had to sweat it out even more in the nets to get back into the groove for the tournament. Apart from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy, domestic players were not exposed to much match practice in the past 6 months. (Photo credit: KKR Twitter)
While domestic Indian players, Team India and England internationals began their preparations, the other foreigners too steadily arrived in India. After completing their quarantine successfully they too joined their respective squads. (Photo credit: RCB Twitter)
Players flew in from all parts of the world — the Caribbean, Australia, England, Afghanistan, Bangladesh. A few international players (South Africa) left their international assignments midway to join their franchises in the IPL. (Photo credit: DC Twitter)
With a steep rise in COVID-19 cases across India, conducting this year’s IPL will not be an easy task for the BCCI. Positive cases in different franchises have put the organisers and owners on their toes. With a few ground staff members, players and support staff members returning positive test results, there is some amount of nervousness. The protocols in the bio-bubbles have been made stricter to try and ensure there are no more positive cases. (Photo credit: AFP)
While RCB’s Devdutt Padikkal contracted the virus before joining the team, MI’s scout and wicket-keeping consultant Kiran More tested positive for COVI-19 while being with the squad. DC’s Axar Patel and RCB’s Daniel Sams are the other players, who are currently battling the virus. KKR’s Nitish Rana also tested positive for the virus but joined the squad after testing negative. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
Daniel Sams will in all probability miss RCB’s tournament opener against MI on April 9. DC’s Axar Patel is likely to miss Delhi’s first match on April 10 in Mumbai . Apart from them, a few foreign players too will be missing out on a couple of matches due to the quarantine policy but it is expected that all the 8 franchises will be at their full strength in the second week of the competition. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
“We have had some good instances within the bubble, particularly in the course of the IPL within the UAE we had some strong reminiscences that we created.
“Plus the bubble life in Australia and now in India, when we played against England. It was good, we got to know a lot of players who usually don’t come out of their rooms.
“So we had the group room the place we used to chill and speak about lots of stuff which was good, which is one thing I really feel has modified from the earlier 12 months. It’s good to have the corporate round and have that bonding going,” he mentioned.
Entering the profitable league as one of the favourites, Rohit’s MI will full a hat-trick of title triumphs if they win the IPL this 12 months.
