Instructed cricketers to use the break as an opportunity to rest their bodies: Rahul Dravid

The world is battling against a crisis in the form of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). India is currently in its fourth phase of nationwide lockdown and  as per the new regulations from the Ministry of Home Affairs pertaining to sports: “Sports complexes and stadia will be permitted to open; however, spectators will not be allowed.”

The fate of many cricketing events including the T20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) still hangs in the balance.

The former India and RCB captain, Rahul Dravid talked during the show Staying Ahead of the Curve-The Power of Trust on Facebook Live. He was joined by Olympic gold medalist shooter Abhinav Bindra and badminton legend Prakash Padukone. 

"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.

The National Cricket Academy (NCA) director also talked about the challenges that sportspersons would face and how to overcome them.

"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. 

"(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. 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. Will people lose out on skills because of lack of sports? I don't think so, I can say this about cricket," he said. 

The wall concluded by saying: "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."