Indian cricket team batsman Rohit Sharma said that he started his career without any spectators watching and if the future cricket tournaments are played in front of empty stadiums, it will not be a problem for the right-hander. “I hope everybody is safe and following guidelines so that eventually we can step out and start doing what we love to do. It will be a little strange to play in the empty stadiums. I don’t know how the fans will take it. As a kid I have to go back a long way and think how I started playing cricket with nobody watching me. We didn’t have the luxury of playing in these luxurious stadiums, I think life will go back to that. Whatever rules the board comes up with, we need to follow that and try and play some sort of cricket. People will be able to watch us on television. At least, there is something to look forward to,” Rohit told India Today during the E-Conclave 2020.
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There have also been speculations regarding hosting the Indian Premier League in a single city or a couple of them in order to avoid movement and further risk to players during the pandemic. Rohit said that we all should wait for the guidelines from the government before arriving at a conclusion regarding the IPL.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) was also postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and there have been rumours that the tournament can take place in one or two venues this time. Rohit said that they need to wait for the government directives in order to understand what the future holds for the competition.
“Yeah, once they open up the stadium, they open the fixtures for us to play, only then we will get to know how it’s going to be planned out. From what I gather is, less movement and staying in one particular area is very important. Whichever city or whichever country tournaments are happening, they have to take all the necessary precautions and all the necessary steps to stay away from this virus.
{{/usCountry}}“Yeah, once they open up the stadium, they open the fixtures for us to play, only then we will get to know how it’s going to be planned out. From what I gather is, less movement and staying in one particular area is very important. Whichever city or whichever country tournaments are happening, they have to take all the necessary precautions and all the necessary steps to stay away from this virus.
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“I am not really sure as to how long it’s going to take for it completely disappear. Whatever necessary steps have to be taken have to be taken. All rules need to be followed. Like at an ICC tournament, there will be rules for anti-doping and all that. Likewise, we have to stick to it.
“In my opinion, there will be guidelines henceforth whenever we play about how to control movements around the hotel, around the city. I don’t think we will be able to go out freely if at we are allowed to travel abroad. All those necessary steps will be taken,” added Rohit.