The 13th season of the Indian Premier League, which was originally scheduled to begin last month, has been delayed till April 15 and is one of the many cricket tournaments which have been affected by this global crisis.
“Helping others is in our culture and I feel proud about that. We should not seek credit after helping others. We should strive to become a nation which gives more and more rather than taking from others,” Dev was quoted as saying by PTI.
Fully agree with you President @realDonaldTrump. Times like these bring friends closer. The India-US partnership is stronger than ever.
India shall do everything possible to help humanity’s fight against COVID-19.
We shall win this together. https://t.co/0U2xsZNexE
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 9, 2020
“Cricket will resume when things get normal. The game can’t be bigger than the country. The pressing issue is to look after the poor, the hospital workers, the police and all other people who are on the frontline of this war,” Dev said when asked about the resumption of cricket.
Kapil Dev speaks against Shoaib Akhtar’s India-Pakistan series
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar had recently proposed an idea of India and Pakistan playing a three-match series to generate funds to fight this pandemic. The idea had mostly received negative feedback for playing a cricket match in these testing times is likely to degrade the situation.
“He [Shoaib Akhtar] is entitled to his opinion but we don’t need to raise the money. We have enough. For us, what is important right now is that how our authorities work together to deal with this crisis. I am still seeing a lot of blame game on television from the politicians and that needs to stop,” Dev spoke firmly against Akhtar’s proposal.
Furthermore, Dev pointed out BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) donating a whopping INR 51 crore towards the PM Cares Fund and how playing cricket in the near future will involve great risks for both the players and the spectators.
“Anyway, the BCCI has donated a hefty amount [INR 51 crore] for the cause and is in a position to donate much more if the need arises. It doesn’t need to raise funds. The situation is unlikely to get normal anytime soon and organising a cricket game means putting our cricketers at risk which we don’t need to.
“It is just not worth the risk. And how much money can you make from three games? In my view, you can’t even think of cricket for the next five to six months,” Dev added.
