“Some Senior Indian Guys Don’t Like Being Restricted & Told What To Do” – MI Fielding Coach James Pamment
James Pamment was serving as the fielding coach of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2021. Pamment has said that he felt safe in the IPL bubble during his stint at the Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians (MI) fielding coach James Pamment has disclosed some details about the team environment during the pandemic hit 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The IPL 2021 was suspended indefinitely after a COVID-19 outbreak in its bio-bubble last week. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) postponed the 2021 season of domestic cricket’s biggest extravaganza after several players and support staff tested positive for deadly coronavirus.
MI’s fielding coach James Pamment, who safely reached New Zealand on Saturday, claimed that despite the horrifying situation outside, Mumbai Indians’ staff always felt safe in their bio-secure bubble.
Pamment also revealed that some of the senior Indian players of the franchise had reservations about the restrictions imposed in the IPL bio-bubble. Even though some members were against ‘being restricted‘ and told ‘what to do‘, the Mumbai Indian fielding coach admitted that he never thought the bio-bubble would get compromised during the IPL 2021 season.
“Some of the senior Indian guys don’t like being restricted and told what to do, but we did feel safe – at no point did we feel the bubble would be compromised, the challenge was the travel. But we started to get Indian guys in our environment whose families were very sick. There were bereavements as well and we were taking a bit of a cue from those guys who were saying ‘no, we want to carry on’ and the messages were coming back that this is a good distraction. And it is an Indian league, run by Indian people for the Indian audience in the main and we’re just fortunate to be there to be providing our professional services.” James Pamment told stuff.co.nz.
After the postponement of the IPL 2021, almost all the players have been sent back to their home safely. Except for Tim Seifert, who failed his pre-departure COVID-19 test, all Kiwi participants have either touched down at home or the Maldives.
“There were bereavements as well and we were taking a bit of a cue from those guys who were saying ‘no, we want to carry on’ and the messages were coming back that this is a good distraction. And it is an Indian league, run by Indian people for the Indian audience in the main and we’re just fortunate to be there to be providing our professional services.” Pamment added.
Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians ended the first half of IPL 2021 in fourth place, with four wins out of seven games. However, there is no news regarding the rescheduling of the tournament. Many boards, including ECB and SLC, are offering the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to schedule the remaining part of the IPL2021 in their countries. However, the final decision is yet to be taken.
