'I would sign up again': NZ's Jimmy Neesham willing to travel to India again for IPL 2021's completion despite the risks

IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians' all-rounder Jimmy Neesham said he would do it all over again if the season was to resume despite the risks.

As soon as the news of IPL 2021 postponement, due to the Covid-19 crisis in India broke, out, BCCI along with fellow associations started sending players back home immediately. It was quite a task for overseas players to return as many countries have banned flights for India for the time being. Which meant players had to be sent out on charter flights and in Australia's case, it meant going to another country, quarantining there, and then flying back home.

New Zealand's Jimmy Neesham says he would sign up again if IPL 2021 was to restart.(Reuters)

On Saturday, the first lot of New Zealand players landed in Auckland, where they will spend the next 14 days, before returning to their families. Mumbai Indians' all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, while speaking to Newshub from his hotel room, said he would do it all over again if IPL 2021 was to resume despite the risks.

“For me, I signed up for the IPL knowing what it might be like. I felt like it was an obligation - I made the commitment to go and never had any thoughts of pulling out individually before the tournament finished. Guys will have different opinions on that, but it's my job, I'm a professional and you have plenty of times you tour countries you're not that keen on going to, but it's about getting on the field and getting the job done,” Neesham told Newshub.

“I would sign up again, especially once vaccinations start rolling out. I don't think anyone really predicted how quickly it would all come crashing down over there and how quickly we would be on the first plane out,” said Neesham.

Neesham also remarked that team travels during the tournament could have been the reason behind bio-security lapses.

“Even though we were flying on chartered planes, we have to go through customs, hand your details over to people, walk through terminals, so there were always going to be pinchpoints there. We obviously don't know yet exactly how teams were infiltrated, but... it's such a difficult prospect to keep everything perfect and when you've got so many guys that are close to each other, there are going to be social interactions after games.”

Neesham was supposed to wait and travel to England with the New Zealand team for the World Test Championship final against India but was persuaded to get out while the getting was good. Fast bowler Trent Boult chose to return home and visit family, before rejoining the side for the WTC final.