With the sporting world hit hard by the ongoing global Coronavirus pandemic besides life in general, the spread of the deadly COVID-19 has largely impacted the staging of all the events across the world.
For sure, one thing is clear that nothing will be the same that was before the global crisis including cricket in the post-COVID-19 world with the games being considered to be restarted behind closed doors amid the ongoing crisis across the planet.
Speaking about the prospect of playing in empty stadiums, Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey said playing without crowds would be a “hollow feeling” but he is ready to embrace the “new normal”.
One of Australia’s most promising players, Carey believes that playing behind closed doors is the only way at the moment to go forward amid the COVID-19 lockdown while giving green signal to the idea.
Carey said during an Instagram live session with his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals (DC): “Cricket, as we’re used to, is going to be different for a bit. There’s the T20 World Cup and the IPL that we’re all looking to play, but it’s hard to picture anything without the fans. It’s going to be a hollow feeling.”
He added, “But I feel the fans will at least have some live cricket to look forward to on TV, and I can promise it’s still going to be some solid cricket which the fans are going to love.”
Read Also: IPL 2020 may happen if the T20 World Cup is postponed to next year
On training and maintaining fitness during this break, the left-hander said: “I’ve been aiming at going for a 10K run thrice a week, along with shorter sprints, which helps me in maintaining my fitness levels. I’ve also been working with a golf ball in my backyard to keep my hand-eye coordination intact.”
He added, “As cricketers, we live, dream, and breathe the sport. It has been a good experience to have a month or so off which has helped us recharge our batteries. But I feel when things open up, we will have really good cricket. It will only take a couple of weeks for us to play at the top level.”
Carey also spoke about the move to take cricket as a full-time profession after starting his sporting career with the Australian rules football, saying he is lucky to have made the decision.
The Aussie said: “I had some success at AFL, but I wasn’t quite excelling. I thought I wasn’t good enough, and so I went back to cricket when I was 20 or 21. There were a couple of years I didn’t play cricket at all when I was busy with AFL, so I was rusty when I came back. But by 24, I got back into cricket and into the standard that I would’ve liked to play. I put in some hard yards, and I feel I’m really fortunate that I made that decision to play cricket because I got to represent Australia.”
The 28-year-old also revealed his feeling after Delhi franchise picked him at the IPL auction last year, saying: “I was really delighted to have been picked up by the Delhi Capitals during the IPL Auction. I was over the moon, and I couldn’t stop smiling for 24 hours when I heard the news,”
However, the IPL 2020 was suspended due to the pandemic, and the Aussie wants the league to get started as he is eager to join DC’s amazing camp. He added, “I was fortunate enough to have met some of the staff from the team including our owner Parth Jindal. All the people I’ve met are amazing, and it made me really excited coming over to Delhi, and playing some cricket.”
Carey signed off by saying, “At this moment, I just want the IPL to get started, and I can’t wait for our team to build on last season’s result. I believe we have an amazing group of players in all departments and we will play some brilliant cricket when we get the chance.”
(With PTI Inputs)
