Having landed in Sydney on Monday, Michael Hussey, former Australia cricketer, can now breathe a sigh of relief, considering the fact that he had arrived home on the same day as the other Aussies who were involved in the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

After reaching Australia, Hussey’s personal nightmare has finally come to an end. The former cricketer was among those who tested positive for COVID-19 cases which had resulted in the postponement of IPL 2021.

As a result of him being COVID positive, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach had to stay back in India to complete his quarantine period, and could only depart after testing negative for COVID-19, unlike his other Australian colleagues, who had departed for Maldives after the tournament was postponed.

“I wasn’t thinking about (getting home) too much to start with,” Hussey revealed while speaking to foxsports.com.au

Hussey is currently staying in a Sydney hotel, for his mandatory two-week quarantine. “I was focusing on just trying to get better again, really,” said Hussey.

Prior to Hussey being tested positive for COVID-19, bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji had also tested positive for the lethal virus. Soon enough, Hussey also tested positive. Reportedly, he used to sit next to Balaji on the team bus.

“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 told Fox Sports.

He added, “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’.”

When asked about his opinion regarding the bio-bubble, Hussey said that he felt safe in Mumbai. But then moving to Delhi, exposed him and the team to external stimuli like airport security, flight attendants, and so on. “There was certainly more risk once we left that Mumbai bubble,” he said.

After Hussey and Balaji tested positive for COVID-19, the CSK management shifted the duo to Chennai, where better medical support was provided to them. The duo were transported in an air ambulance inside a pod. Later, Hussey had negative report, defeating the virus on May 13.

The CSK batting coach had planned to fly to Maldives and join his Australian colleagues there. But the same was not possible as the Maldives government also banned flights from India. So, he decided to use the aerial route from Chennai to Doha and then finally Australia.

Lastly, Hussey expressed his dejection regarding the postponement of IPL, and seemed disappointed with the tournament falling prey to COVID-19. He will be flying back to his home in Perth after completing his two-week hotel quarantine in Sydney.