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.
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.”
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)
