Legendary Sachin Tendulkar believes certain aspects of cricket will never be the same post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tendulkar pointed out at the shining of the ball through saliva, as is done by fielding teams around the world, and the ways of celebrating a dismissal, like high-fives and hugging, that would most probably change whenever the on-field play is safe to resume.
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"Shining the ball will change (will change) I think," the Master Blaster, who turns 47 on Friday (April 24), told Reuters. "Everyone will be conscious of maintaining social distancing, giving high-fives to each other and hugging after celebrating the fall of a wicket."
"I don’t think those things are going to happen. It may happen instinctively but consciously players would want to make sure that they follow certain norms. During this period personal hygiene has been at the forefront."
Tendulkar also batted for rejigging of the FTP in order to fit in all the remaining World Test Championship (WTC) fixtures at a new window.
"I would like to believe that some tours are getting postponed rather than being called off," he said. "The whole world has come to a standstill, it applies to all cricket playing nations. The whole calendar can be moved forward a little bit without altering too many things."
"I know the timings of the cricket season are different in different continents and that needs a closer look at."
Many cricketers in recent times have opened up on their battle with mental health issues. And Tendulkar, who faced enormous pressure of expectations during his glorious 24-year-long run at the highest level, believes players shall try and strike a right balance with regards to their mood in highs and lows.
"I had a team around me all the time who would absorb most of the pressure so that I could be focussed only on the game and nothing else. That helped me," he said, referring to his teammates, friends and family.
"Every individual has to go through ups and downs. If one is going to get carried away with success and celebrate till the cows come home, that’s not going to work. There has to be a balance between celebration and disappointment," Tendulkar added.
"The moment you start finding balance, the pressure automatically reduces. There’s multiple things happening around players and with social medial everything gets amplified so keeping that balance is crucial."
(Inputs from Reuters)
