Sachin Tendulkar said it will be strange for players to play cricket matches behind closed doors but feels interest of the people should be above everything else during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It would be a strange feeling to be inside an empty stadium. Because you draw a lot of energy from the crowd after hitting a boundary or after taking a wicket,” Tendulkar told Hindustan Times.
“So, you are not going to get all that. It may even seem like net practice. Drawing that energy from the spectators, that feeling is going to be lost without any doubt,” he added.
With IPL already postponed indefinitely and doubts over the T20 World Cup, there are talks of India-Australia Test series being played at one venue behind closed doors.
“I don’t endorse it all. It’s not something I’m particularly excited about,” Tendulkar said about playing the entire Test series at one venue.
“You could maybe look at a one-day series but to have 25 days of Test cricket at one venue…I don’t endorse that,” he added.
However, Tendulkar felt there should be no rush to resume the game as the lives of the people should be prioritised.
The Indian batsman, who turned 47 on Friday, said the Covid-19 pandemic could change the way the game is played.
“The method of shining the ball is going to change now. I don’t know what it will be as a lot of it would have to do with hygiene,” Tendulkar said.
“Celebrations also (will change); one can’t do high-fives or hug each other. Hopefully, the game will start after we overcome this challenge but I feel that element will stay somewhere in the back of the mind. It will eventually boil down to the hygiene levels we maintain,” he added.
Talking about maintaining rhythm during the lockdown, Tendulkar felt the fitness levels of the current Indian cricketers would come handy.
“All these current players have a certain level of fitness and for that to diminish, it takes a long time. It all depends on how smartly you want to utilise this time and move forward,” he said.
“I’m sure no tournament is going to happen out of the blue. Nobody is going to say that today the lockdown is over from tomorrow you have to go out and play a match. So players will get time to prepare,” he added.
