Sports psychologist helping us to absorb pressure, great to have professional support: Mithali Raj

Queenstown [New Zealand], February 8 : India ODI skipper Mithali Raj on Tuesday said that having a sports psychologist travelling with the team is helping all players on absorbing pressure and dealing with pressure-cooker situations.
India and New Zealand will lock horns in one T20I and five ODIs. The T20I game will be played on Wednesday at the John Davies Oval, Queenstown.
"Every player has their own individual way of absorbing pressure and coming out and playing their best cricket. Having a sports psychologist travelling with the team helps, she has one-on-one sessions with players on how to absorb pressure and how to play the best cricket under pressure situations," said Mithali during a press conference held ahead of the first T20I.
"In today's time, it is important to have sports psychologists travelling with the team. There are a longer duration of quarantine and bio-bubbles, the tour is extended as we have a series before the World Cup. It is always great to have professional support," she added.
Talking about how she individually deals with pressure, Mithali said: "Well, I read books, I try to solve puzzles. You just try to not put too much load onto your mind. Off the field, I try to divert my mind and that is how I deal with pressure."
When asked about the upcoming series against New Zealand, Mithali said: "We are here to sort of use this series as preparation for the World Cup because it is the best way that we can get to know the wickets and what sort of composition we are looking at heading into the World Cup. We definitely want to put our best standard of cricket, having said that, every other team has prepared well for the World Cup, it will boil down to who plays the best cricket on the day."
Mithali had played her first World Cup in New Zealand and as fate has it, she will play her last World Cup in the same country. The 2022 Women's World Cup will be played from March 4-April 3 in New Zealand.
"I played my first World Cup in New Zealand, I could not get through the entire World Cup in 2000 because I was down with typhoid. The team has done well in the last year, the team has performed well and I am looking forward to playing our best cricket in the upcoming World Cup," said Mithali.
When asked about Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali said: "She definitely gets experience into the squad. In Australia, we missed an experienced batter in the middle and her coming back helps the team. Her off-spin can also help us, considering these options it is good to have her back in the squad."