Sunil Gavaskar feels showing archives is 'temporary solution' for fans to not miss cricket

In wake of the worldwide crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak, all cricketing events have been put on hold by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Even the much-awaited Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) season was recently postponed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) until further notice. With no live coverage on offer, indoor-bound cricket fans continue to feed on footage from old matches for entertainment.

However, former Indian captain and batting icon Sunil Gavaskar is of the opinion that sports fans might get bored while re-visiting old action again and again.

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Sunil Gavaskar on the return of cricket

Considering the current situation at hand, Sunil Gavaskar said that live sport may not resume for another four to five months. In an interview with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar stated that such a long wait will be difficult for players as well as for the spectators. The 125-Test veteran Sunil Gavaskar also suggested that holding cricket matches behind closed doors is one option to look forward to. However, the legendary batsman added that it should be a “last resort” option as he believes that players prefer performing in front of crowds.

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Sunil Gavaskar then spoke about how fans are re-watching old cricket matches as a temporary solution. Since several ICC member countries are under lockdown, the cricketer-turned-commentator then expressed confidence that cricket boards are currently planning various ways of staging matches during such times of crisis.

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Coronavirus impact on IPL 2020 and T20 World Cup

The IPL 2020 was initially scheduled to commence on March 29. However, the tournament got postponed indefinitely by BCCI with several reports suggesting that the Indian board could possibly look for a new window for IPL 2020. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently said that there would be no cricket in the country in the time being. While the ICC have put all immediate international activities on hold, the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in October and November is also clouded with much uncertainty at the moment.

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