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Indians look to shrink for ?quick fix?
Team psychologist Sandy Gordon believes India's poor performance against New Zealand before the World Cup is an aberration.
There is hope for the Indian team in this World Cup. The pathetic performance against New Zealand days before they embarked on Mission World Cup is an aberration and, if one is to believe renowned sports psychologist Sandy Gordon, then India might surprise its detractors and may even end up right at the top.
For the past two days, the Indian cricketers have been interacting with Australian Gordon, who is on the faculty of the University of Western Australia, and was hired by the Indian Board to have a few sessions with the players before Cup.
Gordon is a busy man and therefore, not available full time for the Indians. He spent more than an hour with the team on Monday evening and on the eve of India's match against the lowly-rated Netherlands, he was busy having one to one interactive sessions with the players.
The players themselves think the whole exercise has been useful. As Rahul Dravid put it, "It is difficult to explain in concrete terms how this kind of counselling helps but it is definitely a help."
So what help is this man providing? Let the man speak himself. Gordon, with a characteristic nasal Aussie twang, says, "Contrary to what is being written by you all in the press, this team has had the best preparation. The boys are at their peak fitness and mentally, are geared up and keen to go out there and live up to the expectations of their fans.''
He detects scepticism and, as if to emphasise that what he says should be taken seriously, he adds: "New Zealand is passé. The Indians did not perform well there on difficult wickets and in different conditions. That performance is not weighing heavily on their minds. In Andrew Leipus and Adrian Le Roux, they have the world's best training support and John Wright has really worked very hard with them.''
However, he hastens to add: "I won't know how far they will go in and how well they will perform. All I know is that this team is completely focussed and wants to do well. That is very important when one is going to play in such an event.''
This high praise for the team apart, what is Gordon's role with the team? What help can he provide them with, especially as he is with them only for two days? Also, the concept of interacting with a psychologist is alien to the Indians and have the players really welcomed him?
"I want to make one thing clear. I am not giving counselling because there is something wrong with the players or the team or they have a problem. They don't have any problem. They are like any team or individuals whom I can help to focus better and also help pay attention to the details."
He then gives an example of what that focus could be and what attention to detail means: "It is a bad mental strategy when a batsman hits a ball for a four and thinks about it even when he is facing the next delivery. The same goes for a bowler who can't forget his previous delivery because he has been hit for a four off that. Players have to learn how to forget the immediate past and focus on the next moment. All this may appear simple but it does require doing.''
Isn't it important for a psychologist to know his subjects better before he starts dealing with them? "Maybe yes. I don't know these players that well. But whatever I know of them is that they have a good feeling about their own approach to this tournament and that is a good news.''
Is there a role model in this team?
Again the answer is: "I don't know the players that well. At the moment, I won't know whether there is someone like Steve Waugh, a man with a heart of gold but mentally the toughest player to play for Australia, in this team."
Well, as India go into this tournament, it is very important to find out whether there is a player in this team mentally even half as tough as Steve Waugh is. If there is someone of that mental ability, he better stand up fast so that India does better than what many are expecting it to do in this World Cup.
