Mental Health Should Be Top Focus, Different Indian Squads For Different Tournaments Will Become Norm: Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri

India captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri said the possibility of two different Indian squads playing simultaneously in different locations could become a norm. While the Indian Test team is set to tour England, another set of white-ball cricketers are all set to travel to Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series.

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Shastri said this could help expand the game in the future. Kohli, meanwhile, said this will become the norm as it helps players stay fresh mentally.

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“At the moment it is happening because of the current situation with restrictions in travel. But you never know, in the future if you want to expand the game, especially in the shorter formats of the game then it could be the way forward. Why not?” Shastri said in the press conference.

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“If you have that much volume of cricketers and if you want to spread the game then that could be the way ahead. If you are thinking about Olympics in 4 or 8 years’ time then you need more countries to play the game.”

Kohli explained that this will help players manage workload, not just physical but mental too.

“Two squads in different places… with the current structure, and the kind of structure that we’re competing inside, to be very honest, it’s tough for the players to stay motivated for a long period of time and find the right kind of mental space confined in one area, doing stuff day in day out and dealing with high pressure situations. So this will definitely become a norm for the future.

“Apart from workload, I think the mental health side of things will also come into picture big time because you don’t have an outlet at all in today’s day and age. You’re literally going to the ground, coming back to the room. You have no space where you can just disconnect from the game and go out for a walk or a meal or coffee to refresh. This is a huge factor that should not be neglected.

“As much hard work we’ve put to create this team, you don’t want players to fall out because of mental pressures or space to express themselves. So I think the channel always has to be open, and the management has left it open for players to approach and say ‘I’m not feeling right in the head, need a break and disconnect from the game. I think that’s going to be a huge factor, and I’m sure Ravi bhai and the management feel the same.”

Shastri carried on:

“And you’ll see it during the Test series. Not the WTC, but when you have to play five Tests in this environment in six weeks, it’s no joke. Even the fittest will need a break. More than the physical part, it’s the mental part like Virat mentioned. You can be destroyed mentally being asked to do the same things day in day out and then go and perform. It’s not easy to recover especially if you’ve had a bad day. It’s important to shuffle the guys around and keep them mentally fresh because of the prevailing circumstances.”

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• India tour of England 2021
• India vs England 2021
• Ravi Shastri
• Virat Kohli