Recovered from Covid-19, Michael Hussey looks back on time during IPL 2021

Michael Hussey was one of the few people who had tested positive for the Covid-19 infection and now, having recovered and returned to his homeland, the left-hander has opened up on his journey before and after contracting the virus in India. 

He had felt some symptoms related to Covid-19 and he also had a seating arrangement near the CSK bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji who was reported to have contracted the virus before him. Hence, he presumed that he too contracted the virus from Balaji.

“To be honest, I had already started feeling some of the symptoms and so I was thinking, I’m pretty sure I’ve got it. Plus I was sitting next to the bowling coach on the bus a few times, so I thought, ‘If he’s got it then there’s a pretty good chance I’ve got it as well,” Hussey told Foxsports.com.au.

The former Australia batsman further said that the first report suggested a weak infection and it led to him hoping for a negative result in the second round of testing. To his dismay though, the second test only confirmed the infection.

“I wasn’t thinking about (getting home) too much to start with. I was focusing on just trying to get better again, really. My initial test came up as a weak positive, and we were sort of hoping the next would be negative and it’d be alright, but unfortunately, I got retested the next day and that came back positive,” he said.

Explaining his thoughts just after confirmation of infection, Hussey said that he felt terrible initially but gathered his sense soon enough to not worry about anything such as breathing issues that Covid-19 brings with itself to get set on the recovery path. 

“I was a bit like, ‘Oh gosh, why me’, but I didn’t really think too much at all. I thought it was a bit of a shame. But I certainly wasn’t worried about my breathing or things like that,” he added. “It was just a bit annoying, really,” Hussey added.

Elaborating where he or Balaji would have contracted the virus, the left-handed batsman said that contracting the virus from the ground was a certain possibility. He also said that the Mumbai leg of the tournament was relatively safe and secure and that they felt more vulnerable after leaving the bubble in Mumbai for the next round of matches scheduled for Delhi.

“So there was a risk there. It (also) could have been at the ground; there was ground staff while we were there training and on game day. There was certainly more risk once we left that Mumbai bubble,” said the 45-year-old. 

The Western Australian did not join the Aussie contingent who travelled to the Maldives to spend time in isolation till Cricket Australia managed to find a way for them to enter the country. Hussey travelled on a commercial flight via Qatar to Australia but reached on the same day when his other countrymen hit home.