Initially, as the COVID-19 lockdown gets over and the on-field play resumes, former India captain and current NCA head, Rahul Dravid, reckons sportspersons will have "a sense of doubt, hesitancy and fear" in their mind regarding things.
While there is no certainty when life will get back to normal, Dravid explained the mental challenges players will face whenever they step on the field again.
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"For a short period there may be a sense of doubt or fear about certain things, I am sure there will be a certain hesitancy when we get back in, also there will be certain hesitancy in terms of people," said Dravid, speaking during the show Staying Ahead of the Curve - The Power of Trust on Facebook Live. The 47-year-old was speaking alongside Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra and badminton legend Prakash Padukone.
"Personally, I don't see that (break in sporting events due to pandemic) as a huge problem. I don't think that once elite sportspersons get on the field, get to do what they really love, they will have a problem."
"One of the challenges for a lot of sportspersons will be to trust their bodies after two or three months of not playing sports or movements that are associated with sports," he said, stressing time as the biggest healer.
Authorities, governing different sports, Dravid advised them to give athletes enough time to regain their peak fitness before stepping on the park.
"(Regaining) match fitness, game fitness, I think that will take a little bit of time before people can confidently trust themselves and go all out."
"And that needs to be factored in, to give athletes enough time to be able to regain match fitness."
As the director of cricket at the NCA in Bangalore, Dravid has been in constant touch with a lot of young cricketers, for whom being confined to their four walls must be really frustrating.
"I have been telling a lot of the cricketers to see it as an opportunity to rest the body, rest the mind, you will never get that opportunity, never get that chance," he said.
"Think about it, if you use this two months well, three months well, you could elongate your career by two or three years at the back end which you might not have if you didn't have this kind of break."
The great Indian batsman doesn't see players forgetting their skill because of the lockdown.
"Will people lose out on skills because of lack of sports? I don't think so, I can say this about cricket," he said.
"Cricket has mainly been a seasonal sport in the past. You are going to be rusty but I don't think you will forget your game. It shouldn't take you too long to get back if you have utilised the time well."
(Inputs from PTI)
