COVID-19 lockdown is a challenging time for all sports persons, says S Badrinath

He also opened up about a non-profit initiative MFORE that will offer mind skill training to players.

All cricketing activities halted due to COVID-19 pandemic | AFP

As the Coronavirus pandemic paused all sporting activities across the globe, former Indian cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath believes that the ongoing crisis is a big challenge for all the sportspersons, including cricketers amid the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.

However, the former batsman, who recently launched MFORE — a non-profit initiative offering mind skill training, said the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown has offered a chance to all the athletes to reassess goals and invest in their physical and mental well-being during this forced break from the game.

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Badrinath told PTI, “It is a challenging time for all sportspersons ... they were supposed to be playing, they would have set goals. It is a good time to reassess goals and look ahead.”

The 39-year-old, who played two Tests and seven ODIs for India, further added: “Many of them (sportspersons) will have a small pain in their body while playing and now it is good time to repair the body and get rid of all those pains so that when given a task you can feel fresh physically. It is a good time to invest in your body, invest in your emotional health, invest in your mental health, and all these things.”

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Meanwhile, the former cricketers also said the batsman can improve themselves with the help of visualization during this COVID-19 break.

He added, “A batsman can do a lot of visualization; through research, we have found that exactly the same muscles get activated when you are doing actual practice. Visualization can be a great help.”

Commenting on the MFORE, Badrinath said: “In India, we have a feeling, that athletes and everybody are doing a lot to get fitter ... cricketers are improving batting, bowling, fielding skills ... but are they doing enough for the mind, which is a powerful organ in your body, which is actually the bridge between ability and performance of a sportsman?”

He signed off by saying, “We felt enough importance is not given and enough training is not given to the mind, so we wanted to create a structure, platform that intensive training can be imparted to sportsmen, that their true ability can be turned into a performance.”

(With PTI Inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 11 May, 2020

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