The global fight against the coronavirus entered a new stage, as the global pandemic is not only causing harm to the lives and world economy but also harming the sports including cricket as well.
Having impacted many sporting events across the globe, forcing the competitions to be postponed and canceled or being played in front of the empty stands, the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak has now been started hurting the game of cricket in the world also.
The global coronavirus crisis prompted Sri Lanka, England and India to called off the ongoing fixtures while Australia decided to play behind closed doors against New Zealand. Recently, the BCCI also postponed the start of the upcoming IPL 2020 from March 29 to April 15.
However, there is still a big question mark on whether the 13th edition of the IPL will take place behind closed doors or the crowd would be allowed to enter into the stadium – where a large amount of crowd gathers and deadly virus transmits extremely fast as well.
Well, the hosting of the IPL 2020 is among the hot topics in the country amid the deadly outbreak, and former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag has expressed his views on playing in closed doors in this sensitive situation. He was recently part of the Road Safety Series which was also called off in the middle due to the growing Coronavirus cases in India.
However, Sehwag acknowledged the current situation and said it would be better to not allowed the crowds into a gathering to invite the virus to spread quickly in thousands, but admitted that the lucrative league would not be that much enthralling without the crowd.
Sehwag told Cricbuzz, “I have played domestic cricket among empty stands only. Since the time I started playing the Road Safety Series, I got to witness some crowds. Entering a stadium with no people, as you hit a four or six, when people don’t clap, cheer, and chant Kohli-Kohli or Dhoni-Dhoni, there is no joy.”
He signed off by saying, “However, given the situation, it is a wise decision not to let the people enter the stadium. If even one person with the virus comes to the ground, he has the potential to affect plenty of other people around him.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
