Fear factor and pressure less with lack of crowds: Jos Buttler

Playing without crowds might help some of the younger guys who are playing against big names like Dhoni or Kohli as they might lose some of the fear factor, says Jos Buttler.

England and Rajasthan Royals player Jos Buttler feels the absence of crowds can help the youngsters lose fear factor when they are up against the likes of MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli.

“I also wonder if over time, pressure will be a little bit different. I think Dhoni or a Kohli, when they stride to wicket, the crowd is usually going crazy. Obviously, that doesn’t happen behind closed doors. Maybe that might help some of the younger guys who are playing against them as they might lose some of the fear factor as the crowd aren’t on their back,” Jos Buttler told the podcast ‘The Analyst inside cricket’.

Buttler also feels there is “less emotion” in the game because of the lack of crowds.

“There is probably less emotion in the game. It’s different. It’s not that you lose intensity with the cricket but with crowd, especially in IPL, creates a buzz and every ball is a massive moment. You lose that reaction, almost. Cricket is the same but you lose that reaction to an amazing shot or a wicket or when the ball goes into the outfield that creates a massive amount of volume in IPL. That’s a difference.”

He also felt the buzz and the atmosphere varied at different grounds. “Sharjah seemed to have more noise around the ground than Dubai. Dubai was a lot quieter.”

Without the travel and movement in quarantine, the pre-game days have been also different. “All training are late in evening. You just lie in bed till 10 as opposed to getting up early. I try do some physical training of some sorts, go to gym. My wife is here, so doing a lot of Pilates which is good for me. And then on match day, similar times you wake up, do some mobility exercise like pilates, have a team meal and head to ground in evening. You try to prepare your body to play in evening. It’s a long time doing nothing.”

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