The legendary Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar went on to express that the full-throated chants helped him to stay at the crease for long and the idea of games taking place behind closed doors disappoints him. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, sports in the foreseeable future seem to have restricted to television itself as social distancing has become a necessity. 

During an interview with PRI, Sachin said, “Empty stadiums would be so disappointing for players who are competing. There are a lot of times when players respond to spectators. If I play a good shot and the manner in which crowd responds also brings in that energy. Spectators are integral to any sport. Their encouragement, vociferous chants for or against you is a necessity in sport.”

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Tendulkar has always been considered an insightful student of the game and he gave his assessment of how the cricket world will cope once normalcy returns.

The batting legend expressed, “I think players will be wary for some time when it comes to using saliva (to shine the ball). Social distancing measures will be followed until the deadly virus is around. High fives and hugging your teammates will be avoided for some time. This is what I would like to believe.”

And this is precisely the reason why Sachin wants complete normalcy before the resumption of the sporting activities, something his one-time opening partner and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly endorsed a couple of days back. Tendulkar also agrees that cricket should resume only when the BCCI and the government are fully confident that players and everyone associated with the game are safe.

However, Sachin barred himself from commenting on whether the IPL can happen in October this year although he did say that he has been hearing about a shortened IPL. He said, “I don’t know how many days in this window are left and whether an IPL can be conducted during that period. I am sure the government and the BCCI will take into account how safe spectators will be and how safe the players will be.”

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Life has come to a standstill and Sachin feels that it will help people to reflect on themselves and e more humble towards life and others. 

Tendulkar said, “Like freedom, we are so used to it. Probably we had taken it for granted. Maybe your domestic help. “This phase will make us more understanding.”