The rigours of living in a bio-secure environment for months will take a toll even “if your name is (Don) Bradman”, feels outgoing India head coach Ravi Shastri, who reckons that sooner or later the “bubble will burst”. Shastri, whose tenure with the Indian team ended after the final T20 World Cup game against Namibia on Monday, said the players needed a longer break between the IPL and World Cup. “One thing I would say — this is not an excuse, but this is a fact. When you’re six months in a bubble, this team, there are a lot of players on this team who play all three formats of the game,” said Shastri in the media interaction after the Namibia game.

“In the last 24 months, they’ve been home for 25 days. I don’t care who you are, if your name is Bradman, if you’re in a bubble as well, your average will come down because you’re human,” he added.

The Indian team came into the IPL in the UAE after a four-month long and gruelling tour of England. Skipper Virat Kohli too has spoken about how the bubble life is not sustainable in the long run.

“This is not something where you just put petrol on the back side and expect the guy to move in overdrive. It doesn’t happen that way. So I think it’s tough times.

“That’s why I say in life it’s not what you accomplish, it’s what you overcome. That’s what this team has done. They’ve shown the drive to hang in there, no complaints. But sooner or later, the bubble will burst. So you’ve got to be careful,” said Shastri.

Ahead of the game against Namibia, Shastri had told Star Sports that players were mentally and physically drained after living in a protected environment.

“I am mentally drained but I expect that at my age but these guys are physically and mentally drained. Six months in a bubble… What we would have ideally liked was a bigger gap between the IPL and the T20 World Cup…(because) when the big games come, when pressure hits you, you are not that switched on as you should be,” he added.

Promoted

Shastri became the director of the Indian cricket team in 2014 for a period of eight months from the tour of England till the 2015 World Cup. He was removed in 2016 but on July 13, 2017, he was appointed the head coach of the Indian team, reuniting with Kohli to forge a successful partnership.

The highlight of his tenure was back-to-back Test series wins in Australia. Ravi Shastri, who completed his highly eventful tenure as India’s head coach, feels that Rohit Sharma is “ready and capable” to take over the T20 captaincy from Virat Kohli and sharing the leadership burden isn’t such a bad idea in a post COVID-19 world.