Aug 17, 2001 04:48 PM
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Cricket these days is a highly lucrative profession. Gone are the days when it used to be a pastime for the gentlemen. There is big money chasing cricket, like never before, in the form of match fees and endorsements. Cricketers enjoy the status of demi-gods in cricket playing nations. It is a single factor that unites Indians across religions and regional, linguistic and caste barriers. In India, cricket is like a religion with a very passionate following of the game. Indo Pak matches, in particular generate such a fervor as if there is a battle being fought inside of a game being played.
With such high stakes, the pressure to perform is extremely high on the cricketers, with no margin for errors. The stakes are almost as high as the days of Roman gladiators.
Indian cricket team is a bunch of highly talented lads. But, talent alone is not sufficient in this highly competitive world of international sports, to achieve success. It is a survival of the fittest. Therefore, to be successful in the world of cricket, Indian team needs to work on the following areas:
1) Mental Toughness: There is an old adage, ''when the going gets tough, the tough get going''. Nothing could be more appropriate in todays context. We have been witness on umpteen occasions, when the Australian was in dire straits. Who can forget their semi final match against South Africa in the World Cup 2000, where Australia were tottering on the brink of defeat. But, level headedness and mental toughness saw them turn the tables on their opponents. It is this major quality in them, which has made Australians such a world champion side. India on numerous occasions has wilted under pressure and lost matches they should have won easily. This is an area where India lags behind, because Indians are normally mellow. We need to have a psychologist associated full time with the Indian team to improve the mental make up.
2) Physical Fitness: With the coming of age of one day cricket, this too has become an important aspect of the game because fielding and running between the wickets makes a major difference to the result of a game. A good fielder saves at least 20 to 25 runs in a match. Run outs are a bonus. No one exemplifies it better than Jhonty Rhodes. Aggressive running between the wickets does not let the pressure build up even when wickets are falling, not to talk of demoralizing the opposition. A case in point is Michael Bevan of Australia who is a superlative runner between the wickets and has an average of well above 55 runs per innings, which is mind boggling and mind you, he is not a big striker of the ball. It is also necessary to rotate the strike as it allows the new batsman to settle down without worrying too much about the asking rate creeping up. An odd boundary keeps the situation under control. BCCI has done the right thing by assigning a full time physiotherapist to the team. The difference is for all to see. All the players are much more fitter. However, they still need to improve on speed and physical endurance.
3) Cohesiveness: There are teams like Sri Lanka and New Zealand which do not have many great players, yet they bond together like a well oiled mean machine. On several occasions, these teams have won matches without a major contribution coming from a single player. They all chip in with useful performances which collectively settles the matches in their favor.
India has the talent and potential. If carefully nurtured, it can once again become world beaters.
