Players have no complaints about the strict bio-bubble that was put in place for this year’s IPL. But when Wriddhiman Saha, Amit Mishra and some in the Chennai Super Kings squad were found to be Covid-19 positive which culminated in an indefinite suspension of the tournament, the rest of the players did panic.

Mainly those from over-seas.

“See if we come across such a situation, we’ll naturally be worried. And as for our overseas players — the likes of (David) Warner, (Jonny) Bairstow and skipper Kane (Williamson) — they were panicky and stressed out,” Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman Sreevats Goswami told The Telegraph on Thursday.

Such were the circumstances that the players couldn’t even greet each other properly before heading back to their respective homes. “After we came to know of Wriddhi, we straightaway headed back to our rooms and then we started getting ready to come back.

“There just wasn’t any scope of meeting or greeting each other at that stage,” Sreevats said.

Bubble life isn’t easy at all, but the players are all used to it and find no reasons to complain. But what baffles them is how the virus entered the bubble.

“The protocols for this IPL were stricter, but such are the circumstances at present.

“Last year in the UAE, we stayed in a hotel which was more like a resort, but it wasn’t so this time around. With the restrictions in place, we could only go to two floors.

“But if you have to keep playing, you need to follow each and everything. Having said that, it did come as a surprise when we learnt that the virus had spread inside the bubble,” said Sreevats’s SRH teammate Vijay Shankar.

“Even Wriddhiman contracting it was very surprising because we all know how disciplined he is... Still can’t figure out how he got it.”

Chennai Super Kings and Karnataka off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham, who became the most expensive uncapped Indian player ever in IPL history after the franchise bought him for Rs 9.25 crore in this year’s auction, spoke on similar lines. Gowtham, though, feels that those who have tested positive may have contracted it from groundsmen.

“Look, for us now, this bubble too was normal. More or less similar to what we have been through in previous cases. We don’t know where the virus came from, because everyone followed protocols. But we came in contact with groundsmen, and that might be one reason. But we don’t exactly know how to trace it,” Gowtham said.

Equally surprised were the commentators with the overall scenario. Former India wicketkeeper-batsman and Bengal captain Deep Dasgupta, now a regular in the commentary box, also feels contracting the virus from groundsmen could be a possibility.

“Like players, we too have to stay put in a bubble, where we know we are secured and the guy next to us is also safe. But we are also in contact with people outside the bubble.

“I knew that my bio-bubble was strict. But I also know that I am in touch with people who are not directly in my bubble. For instance, the groundsmen and my car driver.. And I don’t know how safe their bubble is.

“As for the overseas players and commentators, they have reasons to worry also because of what has been happening in the whole country,” Dasgupta said.