For some time now, batting has been the main cause of
concern for Bangladesh
as more of than not they tend to throw their wickets away by indulging in
reckless strokes. This has led to the team suffering heavy defeats.
The Bangladesh
batsmen have had sound coaching, but their failing can largely be attributed to
lack of mental strength. At the highest level of the game, its temperament that
divides wheat from the chaff.
Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara’s mental make-up is
exemplary. And that has been a huge contributing factor to their greatness. They
follow a mental routine against all bowlers.
What is this mental routine?
According to Greg Chappell, mental routine comprises of awareness,
fine focus and fierce focus
Awareness as Greg Chappell says, is the state of mind in
which a batsman is well aware of what is happening around him, but he is not
acutely focused on any one thing. It is used while waiting to go into bat,
between balls and between overs.
Fine focus is the state of mind that comes after being aware
of the situation and at this stage a batsman gets focused when a bowler is at
the top of his bowling mark. At this point a batsman will move his focus to the
bowler’s face and which gives the batsman an insight into the bowler’s
emotional state and, via his peripheral vision, about the body language of the
bowler.
As a bowler reaches his delivery point, the batsman mind
shifts to fierce focus by narrowing his visual field and devoting his attention
to the point from which the ball will be delivered and when the bowler will
deliver the ball the batsman’s focus will only be on the bowler’s hand and the
ball leaving it.
This is the combination that is needed to build long innings
and script epic knocks. Only in the very rarest of occasions this combination
is found amongst Bangladeshi batsmen. And unless, the Bangladesh
batsmen come to grips with this all-important aspect, they will continue to
flounder at the highest level of the game.
This article has been published in Cricket Country as fan
post on 18/10/2011 http://www.cricketcountry.com/cricket-fan/posts/Bangladesh-batsmen-have-to-learn-the-importance-of-mental-routine-/post-2328/comments/page/1
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
I totally agree with you Faisal. Bangladeshi lads have got all the talent in the world, but it's their mental temperament that lets them down! You can have all the force in the world, but if your mindset is not up to the mark, then expect a collapse.
ReplyDeleteWell written!
Thanks Bhai
ReplyDelete