Setting aside initial concerns over travelling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner says he will take shelter in a corner of the airport lounge as he flies out into the Caribbean via mainland America.
He is excited at the prospect of playing in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League and IPL after the long coronavirus-enforced break.
The 28-year-old, who last played in an ODI series against Australia in March before the pandemic brought all sporting activities to a grinding halt, will turn up for Barbados Tridents when the CPL begins on August 18.
“It’s an interesting one. I’m going through America and I’ll park up in the (airport) lounge in the corner somewhere. It’s one of the risks we’ve got to think about,” Santner, who was scheduled to fly out on Thursday night, told stuff.co.nz.
“They’ve put an extensive booklet together about what happens in each circumstance which has been good, and a bit of clarity around where we’re staying. It seems like they’ve got it under control.
“At this stage, we’ll just fly straight across (from the Caribbean). I’m not sure what quarantine looks like yet, but there are some other big dogs like Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum I can tag along with.”
Santner, who has taken 52 wickets in 44 T20Is, will join his New Zealand colleagues Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Jimmy Neesham in UAE for the IPL, which gets underway on September 19, nine days after the end of CPL.
Santner is looking forward to some competition after a long hiatus due to the pandemic.
“I’m used to bowling in the nets to them and they’ve been running down at every ball so it’d be nice to play some of these guys on some spinning wickets and see if they want to try that again,” said the left-handed spinner, who was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 IPL auction.
“It’ll be exciting to play some cricket again. It’s been a slow winter but good to be at home for a bit and train and do all the fitness work. Chris put us through the wringer the last six weeks so it’s nice to go away and not see him for a few months.