Outgoing India head coach Ravi Shastri has cautioned that if cricket boards around the world and the International Cricket Council (ICC) do not address mental tiredness, cricketers may choose to withdraw from international obligations. Following six months in a biosecure cocoon, Shastri commented on the “mental and physical” drain on Team India players. India failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup.
Team India’s dismal performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup, according to the 59-year-old, is partly due to tiredness caused by a protracted bio-security bubble. We’ve been living in a bio-secure bubble for the past six months. A larger gap between IPL and World Cup would have been ideal, since these are all people. They are human-beings, they don’t run on petrol or gasoline,” Shastri told Star Sports prior to India’s last match against Namibia.
“The ICC and all cricket boards need to consider how they can handle the players’ mental fatigue. Otherwise, players will start pulling out of the series if they are playing in such bubbles. Changes can be made, youngsters can fill in, but at the end of the day, India is playing and that is what people will remember. And also most importantly, this Indian team is a winning team,” Shastri added.
