Cricket has its own fan base in India. Considered a religion in the country, cricket lovers like to march by the thousands to witness a good sport in person. Whether it’s a test match or a T20 contest, cricket stadiums are often packed and packed to the brim.
But the coronavirus pandemic came and ruined all his plans to watch the games from the stands. Such is the situation right now that the latest edition of IPL 2020 had to be moved out of the country just for the show to continue.
Social distancing has become the new norm in the post-COVID world. Those who tuned in online to watch the action-packed first IPL match between Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians on Saturday found something wrong. The stands were deserted. There were no signs, whistles or chants of “Dhoni Dhoni” echoing through the stadium.
Since they say that modern problems require modern solutions, the first IPL encounter was not eerily quiet even though fans were not present. Broadcasters filled the void by introducing ambient noise from the crowd to mimic the electrifying atmosphere that was once the norm.
Read also: Dhoni got wrong call from DRS during MI Vs CSK match and IPL fans are convinced 2020 is ‘cursed’
Fans who were grateful to see cricket finally in action noted the unusual and voiced their opinions on the microblogging site Twitter.
People looked at FRIENDS with a fake laugh and complaining about the fake voice of the crowd at IPL
– Rishabh Srivastava (@AskRishabh) September 19, 2020
IPL matches with fake audience background music is the reason I have trust issues L
– Michael Gary Scott (@ManagerDMPC) September 19, 2020
After watching today’s ipl game and the noise from the fake crowd, everyone who ever went to see an ipl game can call themselves voice actors.
– nikhil (@nixlodeon) September 19, 2020
Nobody: Literally nobody: * IPL adding the sound of cheering from the crowd *
-. (@shamrahahahaa) September 19, 2020
Dear @ICC – How about live streaming of the audience’s sound from their homes through an application in the stadium? It will almost bring the crowd atmosphere. #IPL .RT if you agree.
– Prashanth Rangaswamy (@itisprashanth) September 20, 2020
The cheers from the fake IPL crowd really works for me. I have no complaints.
– Alabhya Srivastava (@ThinkerSrivas) September 19, 2020
The fake crowd cheers in the #IPL parties are like laugh lines for comedy shows
– TinTin Quanrantino (@Batla_G) September 19, 2020
However, the absence of the crowd was overshadowed by the excitement of seeing the start of the IPL. CSK emerged as the winner against the defending champions of the Mumbai Indians. Dhoni’s CSK managed to hit MI’s target of 163 with four deliveries and five windows to spare.
Ambati Rayudu’s 71 (48) and Faf du Plessis’s 58 * (44) ensured that the chase was quite comfortable.
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