Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik
With coronavirus halting all sports action across the globe and putting an uncertainty over the future events, organisers and committees are looking to stage tournaments in closed stadiums. In fact, Germany's Bundesliga is all set to resume from May 9 onwards without spectators in the stadiums.
Following the indefinite postponement of the 13th season of the Indian Premier League last week by BCCI with no new dates for the season, reports emerged that it might be held later this year in empty stadiums.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Dinesh Karthik feels playing in front of empty stands won't be something new to Indian cricketers as they have grown up playing domestic cricket with barely a handful watching.
"For a lot of us, we have grown up playing domestic cricket without crowds. So it should not be too new to us," India stumper-batsman Karthik said during an Instachat with former England medium-pacer turned commentator Isa Guha.
The chat, where both Isa and Karthik with his squash star wife Dipika Pallikal were seen cooking a dish, was facilitated by KKR.
"It would feel weird for sure. We have never played IPL without fans but we have grown up playing domestic cricket where nobody is watching us," said the 34-year old.
Karthik also spoke about commentators talking about cricketers which at times becomes controversial when things are taken personally.
"Lot of players get hurt by what commentators say. See they are talking about you as a player and not a person. One more thing, if they don't talk about you then you are not relevant is what I feel."
"I remember watching an interview by Ian Chappell. When a player walked up to him and asked why you said this about me...he said your job is to play...my job is to talk. Lets stick to our jobs. Then there was not so much social media but now there is," Karthik added.
Asked to name his favourite ground, Karthik said: "Favourite cricket ground is Eden Gardens. I enjoy playing there. When you do well in a ground you like it a lot."
