India skipper Virat Kohli haas expressed doubt whether the magic of playing with a packed crowd watching can be re-created when the matches will be played in empty stadiums post the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis which has halted all sporting activities across the world.
Speaking on `Just kidding` with Virat Kohli on Star Sports` Cricket Connected show, Kohli said there is no denying the fact that the players will remain competitive as ever, the players will definitely miss the presence of the supporters.
"I have thought about it a lot. This is obviously a very possible situation. It might happen. I honestly don`t know how everyone is going to be able to take that," Kohli was quoted as saying by IANS.
"We are used to playing in front of so many passionate people. You feed off people`s energy on the ground. Whether you are playing in another country where the crowd is on the other side. You use that as a determination to keep fighting against all odds and that gives you a different kind of determination as you are competing not just with the XI but everyone who is in the stadium. There is a collective energy there which you have to fight against. In your own country, you feed off people`s energy and it takes you into a different direction where some things, as I said, might not seem possible, but that belief..that optimism from the whole crowd combined with the odds...takes you to another level which is quite difficult to re-create if you don`t have that environment around you. So...things might still happen..sport will go on but you might not see that kind of involvement in a passionate way," said the Indian skipper.
"It will be played at a very good intensity but that feel of the crowd connecting with the players and that tension of the game...everyone feeling that tension around the stadium...those emotions are very difficult to re-create. So things will still go on. But I doubt you will feel something magical happening inside because of that atmosphere," he added.
Kohli also cited an example of how the presence of crowd in the stadium can motivate a team by picking out the 2016 World T20 quarter-final game against Australia in Mohali played on March 27 -- when Kohli socred 82 runs to help India register a stunning win and enter the semi-finals of the tournament.
"Apart from the 2011 (World Cup) final (which India won), my other favourite match from the atmosphere and importance of the game point of view, would be the 2016 T20 quarter-finals against Australia in Mohali," Kohli said.
