IPL 2020: Jos Buttler says cricket behind closed doors has no "fear factor" for youngsters 

Buttler made a relevant point on young guns playing the IPL 2020 without crowd pressure at stadiums.

Jos Buttler | IANS Rajasthan Royals' (RR) wicketkeeper batsman Jos Buttler, who has moved from one bio-bubble in UK to another in UAE for the Indian Premier League (IPL), feels the experience of living in such an environment is more comfortable in IPL. 

Buttler said given the fact that there are no on-site hotels, as were used to save the international summer in Manchester and Southampton, players like him have felt more normal about things in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. 

Read Also: BCCI to remove players, charge teams 1 crore for breach of bio-bubble in UAE 

"In my opinion, it's nicer here [UAE] that we're away from the ground. We don't wake up and have a view of the cricket ground so it's a bit easier to get away from the cricket. It's great," he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz

"I've managed to have my family with me here as well which is really nice, and the hotel is great. We're being really well looked after, we've got a beach we can use, and we can use the pool at certain times, and the tennis court and stuff, so the two bubbles are a little bit different."

"The fact that we're not staying at the ground makes it feel a little bit more normal as well," he added. 

The health threat within the COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible to get crowds in at stadiums, which has also posed a challenge in itself for the players. 

"We are certainly missing the crowds, especially at the IPL, where one thing you really associate with it is the noise and the crowd. So that's taking a bit of getting used to for some of the players," said Buttler. 

Pre-recorded crowd noise is being used for games to create a spectacle-like atmosphere for television audiences. Buttler feels though there has been an appreciable effort to make behind closed doors matches a "good viewer product", it is still "certainly different" from the players' perspective. 

"It's certainly different. Sharjah seemed to have more noise around the ground than in Dubai. Dubai was a lot quieter. You don't lose the intensity necessarily in cricket, but the crowd, especially in the IPL, just create such a buzz," he said. 

The explosive opener, who missed his team's opening match due to quarantine regulations and hasn't find his best touch in the two games played thereafter, made a very interesting point on lack of spectator-presence, suggesting that the youngsters will feel just that more freedom to be able to perform against the big guns of the IPL without crowd pressure.

"Every ball is such a massive event, so you just lose the reaction. The cricket is the same but you lose that reaction to an amazing shot or a wicket, or even when the ball goes into the outfield, it creates a massive amount of volume."

"So that's certainly different and I wonder, over time, if the pressure is a little bit different. You think of playing against Dhoni or Kohli as they stride to the wicket and the crowd is going crazy."

"Obviously that doesn't happen behind closed doors, and maybe that might help some of the younger players who are playing against them, lose a little bit of fear factor because the crowd aren't on their back as well," Buttler signed off. 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 02 Oct, 2020

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