Zaheer Khan gave his views on the imminent saliva-ban due to COVID-19 pandemic.
With the recommendation of the ICC Cricket Committee to discontinue the traditional practice likely to be ratified as early as June, Zaheer weighed in over the matter during a webinar moderated by former Indian Premier League COO Sundar Raman on Sunday (May 24).
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"It is going to be very hard for bowlers to swing the ball," he said. "If you are going to disinfect the ball every time, at least they should keep a solution with the umpires, which the bowlers can use officially and get some sort of practice going. Otherwise, it is heavily in favour of the batsmen."
Zaheer, the 2011 World Cup winner and once a 92-Test veteran, is currently the director of cricket for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL.
The 41-year-old reckons "mental adjustment" is key for all sportspersons, frustratingly confined to their four walls instead of being on the park.
"An active sportsperson will find it very tough during this time," said Zaheer. "It is definitely going to be very challenging... the adjusting. I think the real focus for every athlete during this time would be to do the adjustment mentally. It is going to play a huge role."
For cricketers, Zaheer urged them to treat this lockdown like long rain breaks during Test matches.
"In all our careers we had these rain-affected Test games and it went on for five days. The situation right now is similar," he said. "Only maybe the situation would extend for a year right now... you never know. The situation has affected our routines, our times and like in rain-affected games we have a different mindset now."
"There the umpires go out and inspect the field and here you have government officials who we are depending upon to chart out a course," Zaheer added. "As a sportsperson, you cannot really switch off and have to adapt to a new plan. Yes, there was a certain rhythm going but you have to build your strategy around the new plan. That is going to be the key."
"It will be about how you can find comfort in the new normal. We can only control the controllables. Once you accept those challenges, things will be a bit smoother."
"Initially, there will be a bit of struggle because no one knows what's coming their way. No one knows the difficulties you will face in adapting to these challenges. It will be a trial-and-error which will get better with time," he concluded.
(Inputs from Sportstar)