Former Australia captain Allan Border has said that he cannot see the T20 World Cup -– slated to be played in Australia in October-November -– be held behind closed doors amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Scheduled to begin on October 18, the tournament has come under doubt due to the coronavirus outbreak which has claimed more 1,15,000 lives so far across the world.

With travel restrictions in place in many countries, many people have endorsed the idea of having the tournament behind closed doors if the situation demands. However, Border doesn’t agree with the idea.

“I just can’t imagine playing at empty stadiums … it defies belief,” Border told Fox Sports News as quoted by IANS.

“Having teams, support staff and everyone else associated with the game wandering around the country, playing games of cricket, but you can’t let people into the grounds. I just can’t see it happening.

Over 50 people have died with COVID-19 in Australia and more than 6,000 have been infected with coronavirus.

“It’s either you play it and everyone just gets on with the job and we’re past this pandemic,” added Border.

“Or it just has to be cancelled and you try to fit it in somewhere else.”

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts had earlier said he is hoping that the T20 World Cup could be played as per schedule in normal circumstances.

“We’re really hoping that all forms of sport can be played again in a few weeks or a few months’ time,” Roberts was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“None of us are experts in this situation obviously, so our hope is that we’re back in very much normal circumstances come October and November when the men’s T20 World Cup is to be played.”

Earlier, Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell had echoed similar sentiments. He stated that although a tournament like the Indian Premier League can be played behind closed doors, it is hard to imagine a T20 World Cup without fans in the stadium.

“It’s going to be hard for us to justify having a World Cup when we can’t get people into the grounds. So I can’t see it happening in the near future,” he told ABC Grandstand as quoted by news agency PTI.

“I think if the IPL goes ahead they can probably survive without any crowds, but I can’t see the T20 World Cup surviving without any people there,” he further said.

Maxwell, however, revealed that players have not been informed anything about the fate of IPL 2020.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)