Cummins, who has himself donated USD 50,000 to India's COVID-19 fight, has a lot of empathy for what the country is currently facing.
Pat Cummins
He spoke about how half of the KKR's Indian squad has had Covid-19 at some point last year. "Close to half our [KKR] squad has had it at some point over the last year," Cummins said. "Their families are all currently in lockdown in different cities across India. A lot of the family structures are different to Australia, where you've got three generations all living in the one place. "They [Indian teammates] always try to stay upbeat and positive, but it's really tough out there. We're always checking in with them to see how they're going." Being in a bubble keeps people detached but when they see the sufferings, they are bound to feel helpless, said world's premier Test bowler.
"I've felt quite helpless and quite detached from it all being kept in comfortable hotels. We were playing games and training like every other year. It just felt that I should be doing more for the people around us." In fact, when Cummins was coming to India for the IPL, he had divergent opinions thrown at him. "The first thing I wanted to do was make sure playing the IPL was the right call. Speaking to people back home, some had the view that it didn't see right cricket was going on over here in amongst all the Covid-19 cases," he said. "But the response I was getting from people in India was the opposite. They all said that with so many people in lockdown they really appreciate the fact that for three or four hours each night they can watch the IPL. "It gives people a routine, it helps to keep them in homes. Everyone thought it was a positive the IPL was still going on."
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