Our Intensity And Passion Won't Drop Just Because There Are No Fans: RCB Skipper Kohli On IPL 13 In UAE

This time around we have an opportunity to bring joy to so many people, our intensity and passion levels will not drop just because there is no crowd," Kohli said during the virtual press conference.

Virat Kohli

A day ahead of thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League getting underway in the UAE, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday said that RCB's intensity levels would not drop during the upcoming season just because the tournament would be spectator less and played behind empty door for most part of the season. The IPL 2020 which is scheduled to be played from September 19-November 10 across 3 venues in the UAE would be played behind closed doors for the first half of the league as there would be no crowds in the stadiums to watch the games as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus. On Thursday, Sanjeev Churiwala, Chairman of RCB along with Kohli, Parthiv Patel, and Devdutt Padikkal paid tribute to "COVID Heroes" during a virtual press conference. "All of us have thought about playing in front of empty stadiums. It would be a strange feeling, I cannot deny that. At the end of the day, you understand why you started playing the sport, you now have a chance of showing how much you love the game. Crowds are an amazing part of any sport but that is not something you play the sport for. This time around we have an opportunity to bring joy to so many people, our intensity and passion levels will not drop just because there is no crowd," Kohli said during the virtual press conference. When asked about how the side has adapted to living in a bio-secure bubble, Kohli said: "We discussed to be appreciative of things that are around you, we all know what we need to do. We know what we can afford to do in this bio-secure bubble and we have become relaxed now as we have accepted the situation we are living in. There is no desperation of any sort and for me, that is the biggest learning from this pandemic till now." Wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel also echoed his skipper's sentiments by stating that RCB has adapted well to the new playing guidelines during the training sessions and now they plan to bring joy and smile on the faces of millions of die hard fans through playing an exciting brand of cricket. "I still remember after the isolation of seven days, I was pretty excited about meeting everyone. During the training, it has sunk in that we cannot apply saliva on the ball and we have adjusted to other new rules as well. It is about staying safe, it is my third year at RCB, and we guys are really gelling well this year. We would want to try to bring a smile on the faces of everyone," Parthiv Patel said.