Sport coming to a standstill owing to the COVID-19 pandemic is a "welcome rest" for India cricketers, feels head coach Ravi Shastri, who has spent barely 10-11 days at home since leaving for the World Cup last May. As with other sports across the world, cricket has also been affected with all international and domestic fixtures being called off due to the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus. "[This rest] cannot be a bad thing because towards the end of the New Zealand tour, you could see some cracks coming up when it came to mental fatigue, physical fitness and injuries," Shastri said while speaking to former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain and Rob Key on a Sky Sports podcast.

Use time to re-energise

According to Shastri, the players may use the time to re-energise themselves, especially after a gruelling New Zealand tour where India played five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests. "The amount of cricket we have played over the last 10 months, that was beginning to take its toll. Guys like me, and some other guys from the support staff, we left India on May 23 for the World Cup in England. Since then we have been at home for 10 or 11 days.