Indians are mentally tough: Chappell
Indian cricketers are among the toughest and smartest in the world, said the team coach.
Indian cricketers are abundantly endowed mentally and are among the toughest and smartest in the world, team coach Greg Chappell says.
"Absolutely, Indians are endowed both physically and mentally. Mentally, some of the best people that I've met have been Indian (cricketers)," Chappell told.
"I think they're some of the smartest cricketers and some of the most mentally gifted cricketers around the place."
The compliment must come as a shot in the arm for Indian cricketers as Chappell was regarded as an extremely competitive cricketer in his day and comes from the classical Australian mould of mentally tough sportsmen.
"I found that the Indian guys are very adept mentally and they enjoy the mental challenge. A lot of our training will be about training the mental skills that I find they have in abundance," he said.
"So, the challenge is to find the right stimulation to bring the best out of them," he added.
The 56-year-old coach, known for his innovative methods of imparting training was of the view that at this level, the difference between teams and players was in the mental aspect and he would focus on this over the next few months.
"There's a whole range of things that I want to introduce to them over time because some will respond to this stimulation while others will respond to another stimulation. That's why Charles Krebbs has been here and that's why we've been through the De Bono method of thinking," Chappell said.
The De Bono method of thinking is named after Edward De Bono, who pioneered the concept of creative thinking in different situations.
The 36 probables that have gathered for the cricket skills camp were initiated into creative and lateral thinking methods by Shiva Subramaniam, a human resource consultant with Tata Consultancy Services.
These thinking tools are to help enhance the performance and confidence levels of players by freeing thinking from a cluttered approach to freethinking.
Chappell had also brought Charles Krebs, a kinesiologist (specialist in the mechanics of body movement), to spend time with the fast bowlers to monitor their muscle movement and analyse muscle breakdown, as also work out ways to prevent injury.
Also among his invitees is sports scientist Ian Frazer, who would be part of the team's support staff for the upcoming Sri Lankan tour to share his expertise in the areas of sports analysis, science and biomechanics.
"You have to be in the best mental shape every day. That's a huge part of it (the game) and a huge part of my job is to get them (the team) into the best mental state that they can be in," Chappell declared.
