“Started playing with nobody watching me,” says Rohit Sharma; open to playing IPL in empty stadiums

The IPL 2020 has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID 19 pandemic.

Rohit Sharma has said that he is open to playing the IPL in empty stadiums and recalled the time when he was growing up and used to play without any spectators watching. This statement of his came during his chat with India Today’s E-Conclave 2020.

"I hope everybody is safe and following guidelines so that eventually we can step out and start doing what we love to do,” he stated.

"It will be a little strange to play in the empty stadiums. I don’t know how the fans will take it. As a kid, I have to go back a long way and think about how I started playing cricket with nobody watching me. We didn’t have the luxury of playing in these luxurious stadiums, I think life will go back to that. Whatever rules the board comes up with, we need to follow that and try and play some sort of cricket. People will be able to watch us on television. At least, there is something to look forward to," said Rohit on being asked about IPL behind closed doors.

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There have been speculations of IPL being hosted in one or two cities to minimize the movement of players across the country during the pandemic. Rohit said that we all should wait for the guidelines from the government before arriving at a conclusion regarding the IPL.

He said, "Yeah, once they open up the stadium, they open the fixtures for us to play, only then we will get to know how it’s going to be planned out. From what I gather is, less movement and staying in one particular area is very important. Whichever city or whichever country tournaments are happening, they have to take all the necessary precautions and all the necessary steps to stay away from this virus.”

The pandemic is wreaking havoc all over the world and despite the Indian government’s best efforts and all steps taken by respective state governments, India still has just shy of 20,000 positive cases of Coronavirus with 640 deaths and close to 4,000 recoveries. Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with over 5,000 cases and 251 deaths.  

“All rules need to be followed. Like at an ICC tournament, there will be rules for anti-doping and all that. Likewise, we have to stick to it. In my opinion, there will be guidelines henceforth whenever we play about how to control movements around the hotel, around the city. I don’t think we will be able to go out freely if at we are allowed to travel abroad. All those necessary steps will be taken,” he signed off.

(indiatoday inputs)