KARACHI, April 23: Former Pakistan captain-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja believes boards cannot survive for long without resuming cricket and urged the PCB to hold talks with other associations to find a way to play the sport behind closed doors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit sports hard with Cricket Australia forced to stand down almost 80 per cent of its staff.
The fast-spreading disease has halted all cricket activities across the globe, putting under threat this year�s T20 World Cup and also indefinitely suspending the 13th IPL.
�Cricket fans are starved now and the coronavirus pandemic has brought life to a standstill but I don�t think cricket boards can survive for long like this. They can�t continue to pay out salaries and expenses without having cricket activities it would be disastrous for them,� Ramiz said in his Youtube channel.
�I would also urge the Pakistan Cricket Board to think on these lines and hold talks with other boards to see how cricket activities can be resumed even behind closed doors.�
The coronavirus outbreak has forced countries to go under lockdown to contain the disease, which has so far infected over 2.5 million people globally.
The former Test opener said it would be a disaster if this lockdown continues for long.
�Unless a vaccine can be created, we can only defeat it through social distancing and precautionary measures,� he said. � PTI
