Punjab Kings pacer Nalkande says bio bubble was very strict

Nagpur, May 6

Punjab Kings pacer Darshan Nalkande reached his home (Akola) safely on Wednesday after the 14th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended following the detection of Covid positive case in four teams.

After creating strict bio bubble during the tournament Punjab Kings team management provided a chartered flight to their players to reach their respective destinations. After arriving at Kolkata form Ahmadabad by a chartered flight, Nalkande took the flight to Nagpur and from Nagpur he reached Akola safely.

Talking to Lokmat Times from his Akola residence, Nalkande who has been with Punjab Kings for last two years said, “ I had a smooth travel thanks to my franchise took extreme care of its players”.

Nalkande who has been an integral part for Vidarbha in the shorter format of the game is yet to make a mark in the IPL. Although he is not figured in the playing XI so far, he got valuable experience from the senior players by sharing dressing room with them. “ All in all the experience was good. I shared the dressing room with big IPL stars and also learn how to develop strong cricketing brain. By bowling besides Indian pacer Mohammad Shami I learn how to improve the game. It is always a nice experience to sit with experienced players in dug out and learn from them”, said Darshan.

Amid the covid pandemic, each franchise gave the importance to bio secure bubble that was created for the safety of the players. Punjab Kings franchise was not an exception to this. Talking about it Darshan who made impactful performance in the tournaments like Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare One-Day Tournament for Vidarbha said, “ The bio bubble was very strict. Other than cricketers and support staff no one was allowed inside the bio bubble. It is very unfortunate that even after taking lot of care the bio bubble was breached. The Covid situation is very dangerous in the country”, he said.

It may be mentioned here that Nalkande was just the second player from the Vidarbha apart from India player Umesh Yadav who was a part of this year’s IPL. This is the second season for Nalkande who was retained by his franchise showing faith in his abilities.