‘Hopefully, IPL will happen,’ Shikhar Dhawan explains why T20 tournament is essential

However, Shikhar Dhawan mentioned it would not be the same playing the IPL in the absence of crowd if BCCI does decide to hold the tournament behind closed doors.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan is keeping his fingers crossed and hopes the IPL takes place this year as he believes it will help the people escape the tension caused by the spread of the Covid-19. Dhawan, who played six years for Sunrisers Hyderabad between 2013 and 2018 before moving to Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2019 season, feels the possibility of the IPL looks strong as long as security and sanitation measures are efficiently looked after.

“Hopefully, the IPL will happen. I always think in a positive manner. It will be really good if the tournament goes ahead... the security of everyone will need to be taken care of. If it happens, it will be really good as it brings a lot of positivity,” Dhawan told Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews in an Instagram live video chat.

“It’s very important that some sports return to improve the environment and mood... it will have a huge impact if the IPL returns.”

However, Dhawan mentioned it would not be the same playing the IPL in the absence of crowd. The possibility of an IPL behind closed doors has been heavily mooted and the fact that sports stadiums across India have been reopened, gives hopes to the possibility of the IPL taking place sometime this year. Virat Kohli had earlier stated that sports without crowd will not have the ‘same magic’ as a strong gathering of spectators and Dhawan agreed with the thoughts of his India captain.

“Obviously, we are going to miss playing in front of a huge crowd if tournaments take place behind closed doors, the fans bring their own charm and aura, but at the same time, it would be an opportunity as we have been sitting at our homes for two months now,” the batsman added.

“Once we go back, we all will be very hungry to play and perform for our teams, it is going to be good fun, at the end of the day, when we are playing, it is always a good feeling.”