Sarfaraz Khan, the youngest cricketer to be playing IPL, has already raised quite a lot of eyebrows in the cricket world so far. Being in the same team (Royal Challengers Bangalore) as some of the big names such as AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli will always be overwhelming for a 17-year-old kid.

Breaking Sachin Tendulkar's mammoth school record and then to be auctioned for Rs 50 lakh at the IPL players' auction, Sarfaraz's success story until now has been nothing less than a tale adapted from a Bollywood flick.

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However, Sarfaraz has had his fair share of behavioural problems, to go with an overly aggressive attitude that has got him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Being sent notices by the cricket boards or being dropped from a BCCI camp, the right-handed batsman has been infamous for his behavioural issues - latest being a spat with the Kolkata Knight Riders' batsman Robin Uthappa.

Looking back at his journey coming up the ranks of Indian cricket, Sarfaraz was thrown out of the MCA cricket camp and BCCI batting academy on disciplinary grounds. Having dismissed from the camp, his father Naushad Khan, who is also his coach, consulted Dr Mughda Bavare, a psychologist associated with the Mumbai Cricket Association, for help. Since then Sarfaraz has been known to be undergoing sessions with the sports psychologist.

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India being a traditional and orthodox country, the idea of consulting a psychologist has been a far cry for the society, especially when the category breaks down to sports. In the Indian context, the field sports psychology/counselling still doesn't get the due it deserves.

What role does counselling/psychology play in sports? Dr Bavare, Sarfaraz's psychologist, explains it clearly. "The athletes who participate in professional sports are physically and technically well developed and well trained. However, most of the times, what gets ignored is their mental state. Since these athletes compete at a higher level, they most of the times face mental pressure, anxiety, lack of self-confidence, self doubts, etc. Hence, sports psychologists help professional athletes overcome problems, enhance their performance and achieve their goals."

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Also when does a player need counselling and can a psychologist identify the players who require mental conditioning? She was quite apprehensive about it.

"Psychological support for athletes is not a last-minute thing to do. The way athletes train themselves physically, the mental training should also happen on a regular basis. Hence, the mental training should at least start 6-8 months in advance before their important competitions. Secondly, more than me identifying the athletes, they themselves approach the psychologists if they experience competition nervousness, performance anxiety and so forth," said Dr Bavare.

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When asked about one of her popular clients, who has been termed as a 'special talent' by cricket experts, and what exactly impelled the right-handed handed batsman to consult a psychologist or what really disturbs him the most, she replied, "Sarfaraz has amazing talent and he achieved success early in life. Most of the times, it is difficult to handle this fame and success that one has achieved at young age. At this stage, if the players are not handled well, it may impact their game as well as create certain behavioural issues," the doctor explained while speaking to IBNLive.

Sarfaraz's behavioural issues have led to some ugly on-field incidents. Is he aggressive by nature and have the mental-training sessions helped him both on and off the field?

"Sarfaraz approached me at the right time," Dr. Bavare answers. The things that were told to him were grasped quite well by him and he tried implementing it in the game. That's what we can see in his game now."

The Indian cricket team does not have a sports psychologist at present. When questioned whether Team India needs one, she said: "Yes, absolutely. Most of the times many players need help at the time of matches as they experience fear and anxiety or some other issues which they are unable to discuss with their co-players or with coaches. Hence, if they have a sports psychologist, he/she will be the best person who will be unbiased and neutral."

On that note, one name from Team India that springs up at once is Virat Kohli? His aggressive nature is not a secret anymore - both on and off the field. His uncalled tiffs with journalists and the crowd in the stands are example that lead to a question that does he too needs psychological counselling.

Going by Dr. Bavare's comments, presence of sports psychologist in the Indian camp can control aggressive outbursts like Kohli has had during his career. And Sarfaraz can be used as a case study to substantiate that.