Kane Richardson says he is waiting to hear from the IPL; he also discussed his quarantine experience

Seventeen Australian players hold contracts in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Kane Richardson says he and his countrymen are waiting to hear from the league about whether it will go forward or not.

This year’s IPL was scheduled to start from March 29 but has now been suspended until April 15. While several of his teammates believe it may get cancelled, Richardson prefers to wait to hear from the league themselves.

While most players were supposed to be away from home on cricket duty until the end of the IPL, the Aussie pacer says they were taken aback by the sudden outbreak of the virus.

“A lot of us were going to be away from now till the end of the IPL, so to now be sitting at home with absolutely no idea when the next game of cricket is going to be for any of us, just shows how quickly this has grown,” he said.

“Even a week ago we were flying back from South Africa and there was no thought of coronavirus at all in the air or when we got back to the airport. It’s hard to believe we’re sitting here at home with everything being cancelled but when you watch the news and see what’s going on in the world, it’s definitely the right call,” the 29-year-old added.

Richardson also spoke about his quarantine experience after he complained about a sore throat before the first ODI against New Zealand. The series was eventually called off when the Kiwis had to return home prematurely. Richardson, however, was quarantined in a hotel room for 26 hours

“I was at risk because I’d travelled overseas within (the previous) two weeks and I had one of the four symptoms, so that was the reason I got tested,” the RCB pacer said. “I thought it was all a joke at the time but (the team doctor) was adamant it wasn’t.”

“He spoke to various people on the phone to make sure he was doing the right thing and got the biggest swab I’ve ever seen out and stuck it into the back of my nose and back of my mouth, so it wasn’t a pleasurable experience but that was the protocol so I was happy to go along with it,” Richardson said.

With the coronavirus outbreak, cricket activities have been suspended in Australia and in several countries around the world.