Five years ago, in early May, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was forced to suspend Indian Premier League 2021 midway through the tournament after a surge in Covid-19 cases within team bubbles. At that point, 29 matches had already been completed.

The 30th fixture — between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad — was initially postponed after two KKR players tested positive, including Varun. Sandeep Warrier was the other player who returned a positive result.

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According to reports at the time, Varun had exited the biosecure bubble through the official green channel to undergo scans for a shoulder injury, where he may have been exposed to the virus.

Speaking to Sahiba Bali on her YouTube show Journey to Jersey, Varun recalled the intense backlash he faced after the tournament was halted.

“The worst was when IPL was stopped in 2021. It got stopped halfway because I got Covid. I was the first person to test positive. So the whole IPL had stopped,” he said.

“There were people abusing me. Back then, IPL was the only way people were passing time. They were so angry that it was stopped. People were saying, ‘Why don’t you just die.’ It was that bad.”

Varun and Warrier were not the only ones affected. The outbreak quickly spread across teams, with three members of the Chennai Super Kings camp — including bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji and CEO Kasi Viswanathan — testing positive. Meanwhile, the Delhi Capitals squad was placed under quarantine as a precaution.

With the situation escalating, the BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely before eventually resuming the remaining matches in the United Arab Emirates from September 19 to October 15.