Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik has no qualms taking part in top-flight cricket in empty stadiums as a majority of the gamers “have grown up” turning out in home matches with few watching them.

Opinions are divided on whether or not sporting occasions, together with the Indian Premier League (IPL), must be held behind closed doorways as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

“For a lot of us, we have grown up playing domestic cricket without crowds. So it should not be too new to us,” Karthik mentioned throughout an Instachat with former England medium-pacer turned commentator Isa Guha on Thursday.

The 34-year-old out-of-favour India stumper added, “It would feel weird for sure. We have never played IPL without fans but we have grown up playing domestic cricket where nobody is watching us.”

The pandemic has led to both cancellation or postponement of all sporting occasions the world over, together with the Tokyo Olympics, the largest of all of them.

During the chat session, Karthik additionally spoke about cricket commentators’ tendency to at instances give you controversial remarks about gamers.

“Lot of players get hurt by what commentators say. See they are talking about you as a player and not a person. One more thing, if they don’t talk about you then you are not relevant is what I feel.

“I bear in mind watching an interview by Ian Chappell. When a participant walked as much as him and requested why you mentioned this about me, he mentioned ‘your job is to play…my job is to speak. Lets keep on with our jobs’.

“Then there was not so much social media but now there is.”