Former Indian batting maestro and current commentator Sunil Gavaskar believes that the ongoing coronavirus crisis might make it literally tough for live sports to resume for another four to five months. The coronavirus pandemic has totally sabotaged the international calendar of several sporting events across the world.
It is cognisance of the fact that major sports events, including the Tokyo Olympics, have either been cancelled or postponed owing to the deadly outbreak which has infected over 2.9 million people worldwide.
Playing behind closed doors is the last resort: Sunil Gavaskar
According to Gavaskar, playing in empty stadiums which is behind closed doors will be the last chance.
“I think that’s gonna be absolutely the last resort otherwise you know when you can’t have absolutely anyone at the ground only then you should play without crowds. Every performer likes to perform in front of a crowd which appreciates the skills and temperament. Same in theatre. So I think it’s not going to be easy on the performers as well. Players also want to do the high fives and hugs,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
The Indian commentator also fears fans will have to keep waiting for live sports to resume for some time to come.
“The way things are going we might not be able to see any live sport for maybe 4-5 months. That’s gonna be tough not just on the current players but also those who follow the sport,” he said.
There are so many fans of different sports: Sunil Gavaskar
With no live sporting action now, the broadcasters have no other option but to telecast old games. But Sunil Gavaskar thinks that it is just a temporary solution.
“There are so many fans of different sports, for them to be able to only look at the old action after a time it gets boring, for nostalgia you can go back and see what happened earlier but actually you wanna see live sport be it on television or ground and for that not being able to be seen till September that’s a worrying thing and I am pretty certain that the officials of all the sports are planning plan a, b, c to get over this period of uncertainty,” he said.
The cash-rich Indian Premier League has been suspended for an indefinite period of time. Besides, there is uncertainty looms over the fate of the T20 World Cup tournament which is originally scheduled to be held in Australia in October.