Picture Credit: BCCI
With the T20I series against Sri Lanka done and dusted, the focus has already shifted towards Test match cricket. The first of the two-match Test series is all set to commence on March 4 at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali. The series opener is all set to be Virat Kohli's 100th Test match and understandably there is a lot of eyeballs for the much-anticipated and historic feat for one of India's greatest sporting heroes.
However, fans are upset since no spectators are going to be allowed for this match. The same is baffling since not only fans were allowed in the last two T20Is against Sri Lanka in Dharamsala but they are also going to be allowed for the second Test match in Bengaluru. In such a situation, fans have demanded that the crowd should be allowed for Kohli's 100th Test with #AllowCrowdinMohali being one of the top trends on Twitter.
A section of the fans has called it a shame on BCCI for not treating the ex-India skipper Kohli with the respect that he deserves. Others also want the modern-day great batter, who is going through a bit of a lean patch from his own high standards, to get back to the run-scoring beast that he was in the past.
Here are some of the Tweets from this trend:
Earlier, the Punjab Cricket Association CEO Deepak Sharma had confirmed that no spectators will be allowed for this game.
"First test between India and Sri Lanka will be played behind closed door with no spectator allowed," Sharma had told news agency ANI.
The reason for no spectators being allowed is more to do with the security officials' involvement with the elections mechanism in the state than the COVID protocols which have been relaxed a bit across the country with fewer cases of daily infections. Would it then have been possible for the Board to have the first Test in Bengaluru and the subsequent one in Mohali, one may choose to wonder.
