Delhi Capitals spinner Ravichandran Ashwin described his UAE quarantine as one of the worst times in his life. According to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) the players and the support staff need to quarantine for six-days on reaching UAE and go through three COVID-19 tests resulting negative, only then can they begin their training. The Delhi capitals squad have finished their mandatory six-day quarantine and had started their training on Saturday.
Ashwin was roped in by Delhi Capitals in the IPL Auction in December 2019 from Kings XI Punjab, where he was the skipper. He has 125 scalps to his name making 139 total appearances in the league.
For me, those six days can easily be called out as one of the worst times in my life: R. Ashwin on his UAE quarantine
The Indian veteran spinner opined that the six-day mandatory quarantine in UAE is one of the worst times of his life. He said he had stayed at home for the last five-six months but it didn’t affect him much because he had people around. The isolation took its toll on Ashwin.
“I was at home for the last five-six months. But I had people to fall upon. I was doing my own work on my YouTube channel, trying to keep myself occupied on Instagram Live and all that. But for me, those six days can easily be called out as the one of the worst times in my life.
“Because the first day was like I was looking out and I can see the Dubai Lake. I look to my right, I can see the Burj Khalifa. It is wonderful but how long can one sit outside and watch? And it is extremely hot,” Ashwin said in a Delhi Capitals YouTube video.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s quarantine and chill
Ashwin told he avoids using the mobile phone much, but in this quarantine, he had a substantial increase of using his phone. He also said he felt sick because of lack of concentration and his inability to ready books.
“Generally I don’t watch a lot of mobile phone, I don’t use it for a long time. I have a cap of about two to 2 and a half hours. But all of a sudden I am seeing today, that my mobile usage for the last week or so has been six hours,” he added.
“And I was getting sick because for me, I couldn’t even read the books as my concentration was all over the place. But thankfully six days were over and everybody tested negative and we came out.”
DC side is one of the three teams to have never won the IPL. Moreover, they have never even made it to the finals. They have quite some squad depth this season to go for the extra mile with new additions like Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Marcus Stoinis, who have bolstered their lineup as an all-rounder. The IPL 2020 will be played between September 19 and November 10.