'It would be weird to play in an empty stadium'- Aaron Finch on the aftermath of Coronavirus

The rising threat of the novel pandemic COVID-19 has gripped the entire world with fear and uncertainty. The virus, which started as the flu in the Wuhan city of China last year, has already claimed more than 4000 lives besides inflecting thousands of people.

The virus has proliferated to more than 80 countries and in the wake of the emergency situation, most of the sporting events have been either cancelled or will be played behind closed doors. And, amid all this,  the Australian cricket team will be re-starting their home summer on Friday where they will take on their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the first of the three One-day Internationals at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Skipper Aaron Finch was asked about his opinion on playing cricket matches inside close doors and the Aussie swashbuckler admitted that it will indeed be ‘weird’ to play in an empty stadium as they have become so accustomed to playing in front of jam-packed crowds– especially in home conditions in Australia.

“We haven’t spoken about it specifically but I’ve no doubt that Cricket Australia has put together a Coronavirus group to work out some strategy, so we’ll find out later on today,” Aaron Finch said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

Aaron Finch opens up on the prospect of playing in empty stadiums

He added– “It would be weird to play in an empty stadium, no doubt you get so accustomed to the atmosphere of the fans who ride the momentum really well especially when you’re playing at home and the Australian fans support us so well and if it comes to go that we’ll wait and see, I saw the NBA being suspended for the near future so yeah it’s interesting to see, it’s not ideal obviously a lot of people are affected which is unfortunate”

Would be weird to play in an empty stadium – Aaron Finch #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/e1OAOMC3Og

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 12, 2020

While there is no confirmation yet as to whether the Australia-New Zealand series will be played inside closed doors, the same can be confirmed about the Indo-South Africa rubber, where the last two games in Lucknow and Kolkata will be played without the fans in an empty stadium.

Coming back to the series, the Aussies will be looking to shrug off their five-match losing streak and reclaim the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. The Kiwis, on the other hand, will be looking to build on the momentum that they have gained after whitewashing India in the ODI and Test series last month.