By Monojit Mandal
SHILLONG: Prolonged lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic will take a toll on players’ performance feels team India and Odisha FC midfield maestro Vinit Rai. However, he believes, it will take as long as 5-6 days to recoup cadence once the season starts.
The Assamese youngster, who mainly plays as Central midfielder, has already established himself as a key member in Indian national team with his aptitude to play deep and wide range of passing. In an exclusive tête-à-tête with The Shillong Times, Vinit said that it may take 1-2 matches to attain ‘game-level tempo’. “It’s been a long time away from matches and training as a group. I think when the season starts, it will take 5-6 days or a week to gel up as a team and build the coordination and chemistry again. It will take 1-2 games to reach the game-level tempo,” said Vinit.
Vinit also said that, he had been working hard on his fitness during lockdown to keep himself ready for the game as soon as the next football season starts.
“I am working on my body and my game. I am trying to keep myself in the best possible shape ever since the lockdown has started. As soon as the season starts, I am ready to go. As a professional, you always have to be ready for every situation — no matter how tough it is.” “It’s about one’s discipline — that has come from playing for my country and club at the top level for some time now. I try to keep myself fit every day. When the season starts, I don’t want to be unfit. I always take care of my diet, train regularly and keep myself busy with football every day,” added Vinit
Vinit, who made his debut for India against Bhutan feels, playing in an empty stadium without fans will feel strange at the initial stage and certainly have a psychological consequence on players. “There may be an effect (psychological) for the first few games. It will feel like a friendly at first but the situation is such that we have to accept it as professionals and keep moving forward. It will get normal as the season passes through.”
“It will be quite strange. When we play in the league, we have a good number of fans coming to the stadium and cheering for both teams.
Playing without fans will be strange for the first few games but as the season progresses, I feel players will get adjusted to it – as it happened in Europe. As a professional, you have to accept everything and just play your game on the pitch to get the result for your team,” Vinit signed off.