Lockdown period allowed me to work on my body and myself, asserts Shubman Gill

Like many athletes across the world starving for that one thing they can do better, Shubman Gill is stuck inside his house in Fazilka, a suburb of Chandigarh, to resume training after what has already been a long wait. Although the government has allowed partial resumption in training without spectators, keeping the social distancing norm in mind, the normalcy is yet to resume. There have been many viewpoints in action as far as that rule goes, but Gill feels that the two-month-long lockdown allowed him downtime to work on his body.

"This lockdown period has definitely been a bit unusual for any athlete. But the way I see it personally is, it is a very good opportunity for me to work on my body and to work on myself because when we are playing and we are in this season, we really don't get that much time to work on our body so for me it was a very good time to work on myself," Gill told IANS. 

With a whole new set of rules and regulations in place for the resumption of the sport during the time of Coronavirus, it will be a challenge for the players to curb their natural instinct. The two-month lockdown has also broken the rhythm which will take some time to return but Gill stated that it is more about mental than technical.

"Yes, it kind of broke the whole rhythm but it's going to be the same for everyone. Once cricket returns, we have to put twice as much time to get back to the whole rhythm. To get back the touch, it's going to take some time," he explained.

"We have to put in some quality time on the field, especially during the practice sessions and net sessions. Once that happens for me it's always more of a mental thing than a physical thing because I think the body reacts to the brain and reacts to the way we are thinking," he signed off.

It would otherwise have been a couple of busy months for him donning the KKR jersey and partnering Sunil Narine as KKR bid for their third IPL title. After Lynn left the franchise, Gill has become the permanent opener for KKR - something that made him excited to turn up for the tournament more than ever. 

"Yes, that's one more reason I am looking forward to playing the IPL (lockdown and suspension of cricketing action). But I think this time all the players would be more motivated than ever because it was a long break and coming back from the break everyone would want to make an impression. Also, earlier when we used to come to the IPL, there was a lot of cricket going on before that. But this time, players would be fresh and keen to get on with it," he pointed.