India V/s Windies: After trouncing Caribbeans in Test series; India eyes ODIs

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.