Playing cricket behind closed doors will be odd, opines Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar, who celebrates his 47th birthday today, has voiced his displeasure over the idea of playing cricket behind closed doors and feels that it would be odd and weird. The Covid-19 outbreak has opened the possibility of sport playing behind closed doors for the foreseeable future.
After Football took the initiative in February of playing games behind closed doors (i.e without any spectators) taking into consideration the safety of the general public, Cricket followed suit in March, with multiple matches of PSL and the first ODI between Australia and New Zealand being played in front of empty stands. And while a shutdown soon ensued, several boards and sporting authorities across the world feel that even in the case of sport returning in June or July, there would be no option but to play it behind closed doors.
And while the whole world is busy showering him with wishes for his 47th birthday, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has not shied away from voicing his opinion - like he’s always done - and has stated that he finds the idea of cricket behind closed doors a bit odd and weird. According to Sachin, fans are who make the game special and he feels that playing in front of empty stands might rip the soul out of the game.
"That would be odd. Because you get so much energy from the spectators also. If India is to win a crucial game, you want people to be around you to celebrate - to amplify that. But no one inside the stadium? It's not going to make anyone feel special. It is going to be a weird feeling, and I don't know how players will react,” Sachin told ESPNCricinfo.
"Can you imagine Roger Federer and Nadal playing on the centre court of Wimbledon with nobody there? It's going to be such a strange thing to watch. Not just cricket, any sport needs to have that energy."
Known for revolutionizing the game with his aggressive and flamboyant batting in the 90s, Sachin said that he would not have made any tweaks to his technique had he existed in this current era. According to the Master Blaster, consistency and flexibility are the two key aspects that will determine the success of a batsman, no matter when or where he’s playing.
"I don't see there would have been any need to do something out-of-the-box different. Because if I had continued doing [what I did] the same way, the boundary line is only 70 yards ," said Sachin, when asked how he would have approached batting in the current era.
"So if you are going to back yourself to clear , then you work on consistency more than anything else, depending on the surfaces. There are surfaces that compel you to play differently, I would have been flexible in my mind, my thought process. I think that flexibility has to be there."
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