Johannesburg: South Africa and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Chris Morris is “relieved” to be safely back home after witnessing “chaos” unfold once COVID-19 cases in the IPL bio-bubble came to light.
Morris, along with his 10 other South African players have reached home, after the IPL was suspended following six cases of Covid-19 — four players and two coaches from three different teams.
“Look, obviously I’m relieved,” Morris, who is currently undergoing a 10-day mandatory quarantine at home, told iol.co.za.
Morris said they came to know about the COVID cases in Kolkata Knight Riders — Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier — on Sunday night.
“The moment we heard that, when players are testing positive, inside the bubble, then everyone starts asking questions. The alarm bells definitely started going off for all of us,” he said. “By Monday when they postponed that game (between Kolkata and Royal Challengers Bangalore), we knew the tournament was under pressure to continue.”
The T20 league was suspended after Sunrisers Hyderabad’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wridhimman Saha and Delhi Capitals’ Amit Mishra tested positive on Tuesday.
Later, Chennai Super Kings’ bowling coach L Balaji and batting coach Michael Hussey also contracted the virus.
“I was chatting to our team doctor, whose room was across the hallway from my mine in the hotel, and Kumar (Sangakarra, the Royals’ head coach) came around the corner, and drew his finger across his throat, and then we knew it was over,” said Morris.
“And then it was chaos! The England guys especially were panicking because they needed to isolate in hotels in England first, and apparently there weren’t any rooms.”