Rohit Sharma speaks over IPL postponement amid coronavirus pandemic
New Delhi : Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma attended India Today E-Conclave 2020 and shared his thoughts over the news of postponement of Indian Premier League and future of cricket amid coronavirus lockdown.
"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.
Talking about reports claiming that IPL should be hosted in one stadium to avoid movement of players from one city to other, he said we must wait for the cricket body's decision on this and not speculate anything.
BCCI recently postponed IPL indefinitely due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in the nation. 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.
“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.
