Senior spinner R Ashwin had withdrawn from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 due to COVID-19 cases at his home in April. While he didn’t disclose the reason for his early exit, Ashwin’s wife, Prithi, had revealed that there were 10 COVID-19 cases at his home. Ashwin travelled to Chennai with Delhi Capitals and withdrew after playing a couple of fixtures there.

Ashwin, who is scheduled to tour the UK with the Test side, recently opened up on the COVID-19 ordeal and revealed that he was playing IPL matches without getting any sleep. India’s premier Test spinner even doubted if he would be able to play the game again.

“Almost everyone from my place had got affected due to COVID. In fact, few of my cousins also got admitted and were serious and they somehow recovered. I couldn’t sleep for almost 8-9 days. Since I couldn’t sleep, it was really stressful for me. I was playing matches without getting any sleep. And since I found it really taxing, I had to quit IPL and go home midway,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“In fact, when I left, around that time, I had thoughts on whether I will be able to play cricket thereafter. But still, I did what was required at that point of time.”

Apart from Ashwin, the likes of Andrew Tye, Liam Livingstone, Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa had also withdrawn from the season due to personal reasons. Royal Challengers Bangalore spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had recently said that he was also planning to leave the tournament due to COVID-19 cases at his home.

The IPL 2021 had to be suspended on May 4 due to 6 COVID-19 cases in 4 camps. The tournament is likely to be played in September-October in UAE.

The COVID-19 situation has improved in Ashwin’s home and the senior cricketer is now quite active on social media. He had recently offered to donate the N95 masks.

Ashwin, who will be leading India’s spin attack against England, has reached Mumbai and is serving the isolation period in the team hotel. The visitors will have to serve another isolation period in the UK too.