'When things are not going well, you need space' - Babar Azam backs Ravi Shastri's opinion on bubble life

Recently, India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri made a statement saying that it is never easy for players to be inside the bio-bubbles and keep delivering their best performance. Now, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has also expressed similar views and also revealed what his team does to keep themselves recharged.

While explaining India’s early exit from the tournament, Shastri pointed out that the Indian team has been inside bio-bubbles for around six months now. They came from England and entered the IPL and then into the T20 World Cup without much of a gap. Shastri stated that playing and performing at the highest level along with staying inside bubbles has its own challenges.

We have tried to counter that by working as a group: Babar Azam

During a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Pakistan skipper explained how his team has been coping with the challenges. “Look they are always ups and downs in professional cricket but yes players do get disturbed and uncomfortable by remaining constantly in a bio-secure bubble environment. We have tried to counter that by working as a group and trying to support each other in the Pakistan team,” Babar said.

Explaining further, Babar highlighted that after a poor performance a player generally needs to get refreshed and needs his space to get recharged. This has been also reasoned with India’s poor performance. After losing their game against Pakistan by 10 wickets, India failed to come back strongly against New Zealand and lost that game too. That is what sealed their fate.

“As a player, you need to relax and be ready to absorb the pressure. But at times when things are not going well you need space and you need to refresh, go out on an outing and if you can’t get out of the bubble negative thoughts do enter your mind and affect your performances,” he said.

Babar has been inspirational with the bat and as a leader for the Pakistan team. They have won all their Super 12 matches and now will be heading into the semi-final, where they are set to face Australia in Dubai on November 11. Babar also added how his teammates help each other. “We all try to talk to each other all the time in groups and help out each other by lifting each other and it allows us to relax and encourage as well,” he added.