Don’t be surprised if two Indian teams are seen playing at the same time – Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has stated that it won’t be a big surprise if two Indian teams are seen playing at the same time in the future.

Recently the Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli coined the idea of two different teams playing different formats because of the workload management and the quarantine process as well as travel restrictions during Covid-19 era.

Meanwhile, India has produced an army of young players in the recent past, who have grabbed their chances with both hands. Thus, Indian team has a potent bench strength as they can play two teams at the same time.

“Virat Kohli has mentioned that there are mental issues because of the bio-bubble. So don’t be surprised if two Indian teams are seen playing at the same time regularly,” said Chopra while speaking on his YouTube channel.

“Virat Kohli said a very important thing and Ravi Shastri has endorsed it as well, it is a reality, people didn’t used to talk about it earlier but now they have started talking. It is no longer a taboo issue that whoever talks about mental issues is weak,” added Aakash Chopra.

In fact, life in a bubble is also not easy for the players and takes a mental toll. Recently, Rajasthan Royals batsman Liam Livingstone had withdrawn from IPL 2021 due to bubble fatigue whereas Andre Russell also admitted that the bio bubble takes a mental toll on the players.

Chopra added that it is not easy to switch off from the game when inside the bubble as you can not go anywhere.

“He [Kohli] has said that when you are in the bio-bubble, there is no way to actually disconnect from the game. You cannot go out anywhere, you want to switch off but it does not happen,” said Chopra.

“You keep moving along the same 18-20 people, of course it brings the family or the team together, but over a period of time it gets taxing because there is no escape route. So, mental health is a priority and because of that you will see two separate teams playing a lot of times as you will need to regularly rest the players,” concluded Aakash Chopra.