Speaking at the launch of MFORE, a mental toughness and skills training initiative, launched by Dhoni’s CSK teammate and former Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath, Dhoni highlighted the importance of keeping communication channels open constantly so it allows players to have a vent any time they need it.“In India, I feel there is still a big issue of accepting that there is some weakness when it comes to the mental aspects, but we generally term it as mental illness,” Dhoni said.“Nobody really says that, when I go to bat, the first five to ten deliveries, my heart rate is elevated, I feel the pressure, I feel a bit scared, because that’s how everybody feels – how to cope with that?“This is a small problem, but a lot of times we hesitate to say it to a coach, and that’s why the relationship between a player and coach is very important, be it any sport.”Dhoni further said that the job of a mental conditioning coach should be to monitor and be around a player round the clock, and not just be about showing up every now and then to check on their status.“Mental conditioning coach should not be the one who comes for 15 days, because when you come for 15 days you are only sharing the experience,” he said. “If the mental conditioning coach is constantly with the player, he can understand the areas affecting his sport.”Speaking on the initiative, Badrinath shed light on what they seek to achieve through the program. “We have been working on this project for about 8-10 months,” he said. “What we have is a group of 20-25 mind coaches and sports psychologists from across the world. Our idea is to get the athlete to interact with them. We can subsequently come up with specific programs. We basically create a platform which will enable the athlete to do his mind-based training on a regular basis.”
