Mumbai: Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar feels there are lot of things that need to come together for the T20 World Cup to go ahead as per schedule in Australia later this year.
The fate of the showpiece event currently hangs in balance as coronavirus continues to create havoc around the world. The T20 World Cup is currently scheduled to be played Down Under between October 18 to November 15 but the ICC in its board meeting on Wednesday decided to ‘wait and watch’ before deciding on the fate of the 2020 edition of the multi-national event.
“The decision regarding fate of T20 World Cup rests with Australian cricket board,” Tendulkar told Aaj Tak.
“If they are able to host the tournament or not, this isn’t the only point that needs to be considered.
“There are lots of things that needs to be considered for example financial aspect. All such things needs to click together. It’s a tough decision,” he added.
Tendulkar also spoke about the prospect of playing matches behind closed doors, which remains a certainty in this social-distancing era.
He feels that players sometimes draw energy from the crowd and if few fans are allowed in the stadium, not full-house, then it will be a positive sign for the game overall.
“If fans are allowed to enter the stadiums then nothing can be greater than that. It would then mean that we are slowly and steadily moving towards normalcy. It will be very difficult to create that energy without fans inside the ground,” Tendulkar said when asked about suggestions that a certain numbers of fans can be allowed to attend matches.
“I have came across suggestions that speakers can be used to create virtual noise but whenever you see someone in the stands, you sometimes get inspired from them… you draw energy from them.
“If 25 percent fans are allowed in the stadium then it will be a very good thing.”