Kane Williamson shows 'little bit of apprehension' after CSK's Covid-19 outbreak

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson says an outbreak of Covid-19 in an IPL team has raised some “apprehension” about the tournament and reminded him of the need to be vigilant about his health and surroundings.

Williamson is due to leave on Thursday to link up with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the UAE, which is hosting the tournament this year due to the growing number of infections in India. It had emerged last week that 13 members of the Chennai Super Kings, including two players, had tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in the UAE and had been placed into isolation.

“Obviously that’s bad news,” Williamson told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday. “You don’t want to hear anybody [has] Covid. I hear they are predominantly asymptomatic, so hopefully through another lockdown period, they can come through and we’ll be okay.

“There’s a little bit of apprehension, certainly as you get nearer to the time…you start thinking you do have to be extremely vigilant and disciplined.”

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Williamson was pleased all of the teams in the IPL would be placed in separate hotels.

Players have also been warned about breaching their biosecurity bubble during the tournament that starts on September 19, even though the schedule is yet to be released. Williamson is among six New Zealand players scheduled to play in this year’s IPL, and nine from the country are in Trinidad for the ongoing Caribbean Premier League.

David White, the NZC CEO, said the board was keeping tabs on the situations in the UAE as well as the Caribbean.

“We’ve been in close contact with the BCCI, we are very comfortable with all the process they have in place,” he said. “Likewise with the CPL, we’ve got nine players there at the moment and they’ve been very vigilant with their systems as well. [We’re in] close collaboration with all the member countries around the world.”