International cricket amid the COVID-19 pandemic has forced players to stay in bio-bubbles, where their lives are limited to hotels and stadiums.
They don’t have access to people outside the bubble during the playoffs and Indian skipper Virat Kohli is among those who have expressed concerns about the mental toll the current situation is causing.
“I think we Indians are a bit more tolerant than overseas (cricketers). I have played with a lot of English, Australians and West Indians, they just give up sanity”, the former Indian captain said during a virtual promotion. even there.
“In the last six to seven months, with so much cricket in the bio-bubble, it’s so difficult. Going from the hotel room to the floor, dealing with the pressure and coming back into the room, then coming back to the floor again, it’s a whole different life. ”
Ganguly cited the example of the Australian cricket team which withdrew from a tour of South Africa after a loss in India at home.
Australia were scheduled to do a three-try tour in March-April, but withdrew citing “an unacceptable level of risk to the health and safety of players, support staff and the community”.
“Look at the Australian team, they were supposed to go to South Africa for a series of tests after India played there. They refused to go …” he said.
“And there is always this fear of COVID. ‘I hope it’s not me next time.’. You have to stay positive, you have to train mentally. We all need to train ourselves mentally for good to happen. to training, ”Ganguly added.
The former Indian skipper further recalled the biggest setback of his career when he was removed as captain in 2005 and was ultimately dropped to make a splendid comeback.
“You just have to face it. It’s the state of mind you step into. Life has no guarantees, whether in sports, business or whatever. You go through its ups and downs. You just have to bite the bullet. The pressure is enormous. Thing in everyone’s life, we all come under different pressures.
“When you play your first test it’s the pressure to establish yourself and let the world know you belong to that level. A little water hammer and that doesn’t stop people from scrutinizing you and it adds to the athletes. in a long way, ”he added.