"This is slightly unfortunate" - Aakash Chopra on the India vs South Africa series going to be played behind closed doors

Aakash Chopra feels it is slightly unfortunate that the upcoming India-South Africa series will be played with no spectators at the ground.

Team India's tour of the Rainbow Nation was initially in doubt due to the new Omicron COVID-19 variant being detected in South Africa. However, the two boards decided to go ahead with the Test and ODI series, with the T20Is postponed to a later date.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reflected on the two boards' decision to play the series behind closed doors. He said:

"There will be no spectators at the ground, it means another series will be held in empty grounds. This is slightly unfortunate because things are changing, the Covid situation is changing and the story has changed because of Omicron."

The former India cricketer highlighted that there was even initial apprehension about the series going ahead. Aakash Chopra observed:

"The series was postponed by a week, the T20s have been removed but the danger was still lurking that it should not happen that the entire series is canceled. We have seen a lot of such series getting canceled."

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the spreading virus has already taken a toll on South Africa's domestic cricket. He explained:

"In fact their own T20 league - Mzansi Super League - that also has been canceled. All the events there have ended, their local domestic cricket has ended. The India A tour was completed somehow and this has been kept because it is in a bio-secure bubble."

Even the Netherlands cricket team's tour of South Africa was halted after the first ODI due to COVID-related concerns. The Pakistan-West Indies ODI series was also postponed after a spate of positive cases in the Caribbean camp.

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"I feel it is the right move" - Aakash Chopra on the India-South Africa series being played without spectators

Aakash Chopra highlighted that crowd support makes a huge difference

However, Aakash Chopra did acknowledge that the matches being staged in front of empty stands is the correct decision. He reasoned:

"I feel it is the right move because what we saw in England, you called all the spectators and then cases increased and it came in the team as well. But does the absence of the crowd make a difference - of course, it makes a difference."

The reputed commentator concluded by stating that the absence of the crowd will take away some of the home advantage from the Dean Elgar-led side. Aakash Chopra elaborated:

"Home advantage is first the pitch and the second big advantage is the crowd as they are always behind you. They will always root for you and suddenly they become your 12th man. If you remove them from there, you get the feel of a neutral venue. The pitch, of course, will suit the South African team more but the truth is that if the crowd is not there, the pressure gets slightly reduced."

Chopra substantiated his point by citing the example of Virat Kohli using the home crowd's energy to put additional pressure on the visitors in matches played in India.