IPL 2021: 'Never had thoughts of pulling out... I would sign up again,' says MI's Jimmy Neesham
New Zealand and Mumbai Indians all-rounder Jimmy Neesham said on Sunday that the thought of leaving IPL 2021 midway never crossed his mind, despite the rapidly rising cases of COVID-19 in India.
While a few English and Australian players dropped out of the tournament at different stages, all Kiwi stars stayed put with their franchises.
Speaking about the now-postponed tournament, Jimmy Neesham asserted that he had made a 'commitment' to playing in the league and was obliged to continue.
"For me, I signed up for the IPL knowing what it might be like. I felt like it was an obligation - I made the commitment to go and never had any thoughts of pulling out individually before the tournament finished. Guys will have different opinions on that, but it's my job, I'm a professional and you have plenty of times you tour countries you're not that keen on going to, but it's about getting on the field and getting the job done. Neesham told Newshub.
The 29-year-old also declared that he will sign up for the tournament once more, whenever it resumes.
"I would sign up again, especially once vaccinations start rolling out. I don't think anyone really predicted how quickly it would all come crashing down over there and how quickly we would be on the first plane out," added Neesham.
Jimmy Neesham played a solitary game in IPL 2021, against the Chennai Super Kings in Delhi. He bowled two overs for 26 runs and managed a golden duck with the bat.
Incidentally, this was the franchise's last game of the season, with the postponement coming prior to their game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Jimmy Neesham blames interstate travel for bubble breach
Speaking about how the virus possibly breached the guarded bio-secure bubble, Jimmy Neesham conjectured that inter-state travel, which involved a lot of outsiders, might have been the source.
"Even though we were flying on chartered planes, we have to go through customs, hand your details over to people, walk through terminals, so there were always going to be pinchpoints there. We obviously don't know yet exactly how teams were infiltrated, but... it's such a difficult prospect to keep everything perfect and when you've got so many guys that are close to each other, there are going to be social interactions after games," concluded Jiimmy Neesham.
Jimmy Neesham, along with other IPL-playing compatriots, has landed in New Zealand and will now undergo mandatory isolation.