BANGALORE: Indian skipper Virat Kohli has said that the novel coronavirus outbreak in the world has changed the feel of sports and the players were already missing magical moments from the stadium.
In an interview, the legendary cricketer said that spirit of the sports were fun-filled stadiums and cheerful crowds and it will be disappointing if games are forced into empty stadiums.
“It might happen. I honestly don’t know how everyone’s going to be able to take that, because we are used to playing in front of so many passionate people,” Kohli said. “It will be played at a very good intensity, but that feel of the crowd connecting with the players, everyone feeling that tension around the stadium, those emotions are difficult to recreate.”
Cricket fans are starving due to COVID-19, says Rameez Raja
Former Pakistan skipper Rameez Raja had earlier said that the coronavirus outbreak has brought all sporting activities around the world to a standstill and fans of cricket have been starving since the emergence of the pandemic.
In a session on his YouTube channel, Raja said that the world cricket boards should meet and define a strategy to hold tournaments behind closed doors.
“We have no idea how long this [coronavirus pandemic] will continue. No one knows. It has affected cricket badly as matches keep getting cancelled or postponed,” Raja, who is also an international level commentator, said. “The cricket industry needs to reopen now as the fans are starving because of no sporting activities around the world.”
The former skipper also urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to hold dialogues with other cricket boards and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to chalk out some plans in order to restore the sports.
“It will be a wonderful option [in this situation] if cricket fans get to watch live tournaments on television screens. The impact of the pandemic is less in the South Asian countries as compared to the Western world,” he said.
