Former Indian bowler Irfan Pathan has said that the Indian Premier League season without fans would be like "marriage without guests." However, he adds that eventually, marriages do take place even without guests, implying that live cricket action is more important at the moment.
With the fate of T20 World Cup later this year still undecided, the BCCI is looking at the September-November window to host the 13th edition of the IPL, which remains suspended indefinitely as of now. A decision on the T20 World Cup is likely to be taken next month.
"Barati ke bina shaadi adhuri lagti hai (a marriage is incomplete without guests), so we will have the same feeling (IPL without fans) as well," Irfan Pathan said in a conversation with Timesofindia.com, talking about the IPL.
"But barati ke bina bhi shaadi hoti hai. Kai log court me jaake bhi shaadi karte hain, eventually shaadi hoti hai (but marriages do happen without guests, some opt for court marriage. Eventually, marriages do happen)."
Pathan added that the absence of crowd will definitely be felt, but the priority at present is live cricket action. ('No one trusted each other': Harbhajan says Greg Chappell 'was trying to divide and lead')
"In terms of the whole atmosphere, you cannot have the same atmosphere and the same excitement wthat you get when the crowd is shouting at batsmen to hit fours and sixes," said the former Indian bowler.
"But looking at the situation, the pandemic, people will still prefer to watch some live cricket. How much old cricket are you going to watch? You always want live cricket because there is excitement, you don't know what's going to happen."
The international cricket action is set to return next month when England hosts West Indies for a three-match Test series. The first Test begins on July 8. The BCCI, meanwhile, called off the side's tours to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, scheduled to take place over the next two months.
The coronavirus cases have been on the rise in India, forcing the players to stay inside their homes. As a result, there have been no individual and team training sessions yet.
