The Pakistan team recently took part in a training for the 20/20 World Cup at a mountain resort. This ‘conditioning camp’ (nothing, one assumes, to do with Shahid Afridi’s hair product endorsements) took place at the hill station of Bhurban: cool, calm, serene. Very conducive to reflection.
And reflection is on the agenda. Dr. Maqbool Sabri, a ‘motivational psychologist’, was up there with the team. So in addition to padding up and fending off some hostile short-pitched bowling in the nets, our players will now have to recline on the couch and face probing personal questions. One wonders which is more daunting; both situations are liable to expose a frail defence.
Why has the team management done this? Intikhab Alam believes his boys suffer from a ‘fear of failing’. He says ‘the idea is to improve the self-belief in our players.’ Zaheer Abbas was scathing in response. In his view, having a psychologist is unnecessary: what Pakistan really needs is a batting coach to correct the glaring technical inadequacies revealed in the recent Australia series.
I believe both positions are somewhat limited. The kind of self-belief being discussed here sounds like the ‘you can do it’ type of self-help preached by numerous Californians and taking up far too much space in bookstores. Real, weighty, purposeful self-belief stems from solid preparation and talent. It cannot be magically summoned up.
Similarly, it’s too late to correct basic flaws in a player’s batting technique. Zaheer is correct to identify batting as our main weakness (though poor fielding runs a close second), but players need to go through the process at the start of their careers for this to have a proper effect.
Players whose techniques have never been honed by coaching and guidance, whose temperaments have never been sharpened by regular, competitive domestic cricket, are going to fall short both in the head and with a bat in their hands.
The team might perhaps benefit from a strategical psychologist rather than a motivational one, if such a profession exists. Our players are struggling to find their roles within the team. Poor shot selection, for example, seems to stem not from their Freudian dilemmas but rather an uncertainty as to when to attack, when to play safe. Additionally, it seems unlikely they need an outsider to 'motivate' them: these days, the chance to simply play international cricket should be enough for Pakistani players.
It is also interesting that ‘teamwork, unity, and passion’ are three qualities the team management hope will be instilled. Along with one-on-one sessions, group therapy will take place. This seems highly unnecessary. If anything, the Pakistan team has been too united of late. We have collapsed in a heap; we have failed collectively. Dr. Sabri, who will no doubt stress that 'there is no I in TEAM', might want to reflect that what the team really needs is less group bonding and more self-analysis. Pakistani players could certainly do with a session on individual responsibility.
