IPL 2020
“The crowd factor will play a role, but once you get into the game, the instincts will kick in and the crowd factor will go down pretty quickly.” © BCCI
India captain Virat Kohli has confessed that the cricket breakdown imposed by COVID was the most timely and that he did not miss the game as much as he thought. Kohli, now preparing for the 13th IPL season, last played six months ago at the Christchurch Test against New Zealand. The first ODI of the subsequent series against South Africa was knocked out and then cricket came to a halt days later as the World Health Organization addressed the rapid spread of the pandemic.
Series after series across the cricket calendar were canceled or postponed indefinitely before the sport returned via the West Indies tour of England in July. Kohli admitted that being homebound was “difficult initially”, but that he felt comfortable in the new reality, towards a life beyond cricket.
“Things were good. I didn’t miss the game as much as I thought,” Kohli told The Bold Diaries on the RCB channel. “Maybe because it had been running for 9-10 years before that and this was the only break I was going to have that long. It was also a revelation for me. It was surprising that my focus was not solely on how I miss the whole game. time and you just know how to get on with life, do other things and understand that this is only part of life.
“Couple of month [ago] you couldn’t imagine that you would have IPL in the first place. Then things started to open up and things started to fall into place and then we saw other tournaments taking place. So I got a little bit of confidence from that. Now that we had our practice session yesterday, I realized how much time has passed. When I was heading to the practice session, I felt nervous, I felt a little nervous … ”
Attempts by Indian cricket to restart its own project have required moving the 2020 IPL to the United Arab Emirates and placing teams in strict bio-bubbles. Kohli reiterated the importance of respecting the rules and understanding people’s responsibilities. “Eventually, we are here because we have the opportunity to play. We are not here to have fun, hang around and say ‘Oh, I want to stay in Dubai’ and all that. That’s not the time we live in.
“We have to accept the phase that we are going through and understand the privilege that we have in front of us … just to be part of the IPL. Everyone must accept that and not have wishes that make them behave in a way the situation does not require that. do “.
The RCB captain acknowledged that the cricket ground would be a significantly “strange” place since the last time he was on it. To begin with, there is the possibility of playing with empty stands. However, Kohli suggested that the crowd factor will decrease over time.
“I’m not going to deny the fact that it will be difficult initially,” he said. “It’s going to be weird. Just the echo of the ball hitting the bat. I haven’t experienced that since I played Ranji Trophy cricket in 2010. It’s the last time I’ve experienced it, so for 10 years, I haven’t experienced it.” I had a game where I don’t listen to the crowd.
“We’ve done this at some point in our lives. It’s important to remember that instead of saying ‘But oh, I’m used to this now and I won’t do it if there are no people.’ We’ve done it in the past, even in those games that we played, you wanted to act and play for the love of the game. The crowd factor will play a role, but once you get in the game, instincts kick in and the crowd factor will diminish quite quickly. ”
© Cricbuzz
