Coronavirus: Rahul Dravid says India not in a position to resume cricket due to increasing cases

New Delhi, June 21: Former India captain and the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Rahul Dravid feels that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country isn't in a state to resume cricket and the stakeholders need to be patient.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has brought the sporting world to a standstill and cricket isn't any different. Sporting events across the globe are resuming in front of empty stadiums and cricket is also going to follow the same template.

England is going to host West Indies and later Pakistan at home to resume the sport in the post-COVID era. But Dravid believes India will have to take a cautious approach as the number of cases continue to rise in the country.

Dravid told magazine The Week, "I don't think we are in a position to resume... It is better to be patient and wait. We have to take it month by month. One has to look at all options. If the domestic season, which usually starts by August-September, starts in October... one has to see whether the season should be shortened."

The legendary top-order batsman said things are uncertain at the moment as BCCI doesn't know when will be the right time to start.

"Everything is uncertain right now. How much cricket will be played and what it will take to be able to play depends on the guidelines from the government and medical experts. For us at NCA, the busiest time is from April to June. We normally have our zonal, U-16, U-19, U-23 camps happening at this time. [But] we had to keep redrawing plans. I just hope we don't lose a lot of our cricket season, and that we can get some cricket this year," he added further.

Talking about how the NCA will begin functioning, the 47-year-old said it will initially open for local cricketers and those arriving from other parts of the country will have to be put under quarantine as a precautionary measure.

"The NCA will possibly open initially for some local cricketers. Those arriving from other places will have to first quarantine themselves for 14 days. Whether that is possible, we have to see.

"For domestic cricket, fortunately, we were able to complete most of our competitions before the lockdown. We have to see whether players are comfortable with inter-state travel. Our training programmes will depend on which domestic tournament will be played first. If it is T20, then we will start the programme accordingly," he said.