Possible injuries & adapting to empty stands: Jayawardene on cricket’s return

Jayawardene further said that playing in front of empty stands will be a new experience for the players, something they will have to adapt to.

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene feels players will take time to get going when they get back to playing international cricket. England and West Indies will play a three-match Test series in July and that will mark the restart of cricket again.

File image of Mahela Jayawardene. (Reuters)

“The skills of the players as well. It might take a little bit of time for them to find their feet. Test cricket won’t be easy and it depends on the weather as well in England. Everyone is starving for live sports,” the Mumbai Indians head coach said on Sony Network’s show Pit Stop on their Instagram page.

He further said that playing in front of empty stands will be a new experience for the players, something they will have to adapt to.

“It will be interesting how players react to empty stadiums... try and soak up that atmosphere.

“It will be different but something is better than nothing. For cricketers, it will be something new to get used to that (empty stands). They will remember that a lot of people at home will watch them perform. But definitely it is going to be something strange,” he said.

Jayawardene also said chances of getting injured for players will be high as they will take the field after a long gap.

“You haven’t played for 3-4 months, all of a sudden you are there, there is a good chance there will be niggling injuries here and there. You also have to manage that workload...depends on how much the group is playing.”