Pak Cricket Needs World-class Batting Coach and Top Sports Psychologist

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistani national cricket team's horrible performance at the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy is uncharacteristic for a side widely regarded by experts as one of the most talented in the world. The latest losses have unleashed a torrent of anger in Pakistan with demands for heads at PCB to roll yet again.

For some in Pakistan, the understandable anger has turned into total insanity. For example, former Pakistani cricketer Aamer Suhail has laid the entire blame at the feet of Imran Khan who led Pakistan to its sole victory in ICC World Cup in 1992.

It's unfortunate that Pakistan's losses at international cricket competitions do not force a sober assessment of the team's strengths and weaknesses. Rather, the so-called "experts" resort to self-serving analyses.

 In my view, a dispassionate review of the team's record would bring out the following:

1. Pakistan's bowling attack is among the most potent in the world and it should be maintained and enhanced.

2. Pakistan's batting is among the weakest in the world and it needs serious improvement.

3. Pakistani players, particularly its batting line-up, collapse under pressure.

The best way to move forward is to do the following:

1. Hire a world-class batting coach who has a track record as a super batsman but also knows how to effectively coach a young side. This search for such a coach needs to be world-wide and selection done in a professional manner.

2. Bring on board a world-renowned sports psychologist to increase mental toughness and improve the overall temperament and tenacity of the players to perform well under pressure.

The anger for the loss should not be directed against individual players. Instead, the passion should be channelized to improve the effectiveness of the team as a cohesive unit.

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[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan's talented cricket team’s success marred by nepotism: Geoffrey Boycott http://tribune.com.pk/story/996729/pakistan-cricket-teams-success-m... …

“What has happened at times is that if you were dropped and you had an influential uncle then you’d phone him up and he’d interfere and try and get you back into the team. It’s very difficult when you have all that going on and the environment it creates is not a healthy one.

Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott said on Monday Pakistani cricketers have always had raw talent despite having lesser access to good facilities but nepotism is weakening its roots and is causing instability.

“What is important is that there is stability from the PCB chairman and the committee and that hasn’t always been the case in Pakistan and that hasn’t helped the players,” Boycott told PakPassion in an interview.

“There’s usually been trouble at mill and I’ve always felt that if you were in the Pakistan team long enough you’d get dropped, reinstated and at some stage you would become captain, because at one stage everybody got a chance to become captain and that isn’t a recipe for success. You need to have stability behind the scenes and not have all this in-fighting going on in the background. What is happening behind the scenes is important for what happens on the field.

“What has happened at times is that if you were dropped and you had an influential uncle then you’d phone him up and he’d interfere and try and get you back into the team. It’s very difficult when you have all that going on and the environment it creates is not a healthy one.

“Look at the example of Younis Khan, how many times has he been dropped, then recalled, then made captain. He’s had a very up and down career despite being one of Pakistan’s best players.”

Boycott also said that Pakistan’s rise in Test cricket despite being able to play at home was praiseworthy.

“My view on Pakistan cricket has never changed going back to the days when I played. Pakistan has always had youngsters who come through and who nobody has ever heard of, but who have got raw talent,” said Boycott.

“They come from humble beginnings and despite not very good facilities, they have this raw talent and desire to play well and they play very well on surfaces like those in the UAE which are similar to what they have back home in Pakistan. I’m not surprised that Pakistan keeps producing world-class cricketers as the country is very passionate about cricket.”

[Riaz Haq]

UK-based psychologist offers services for Pakistan team

https://www.dawn.com/news/1265732


KARACHI: Taimoor Ali Khan, a Pakistani sports psychology consultant based in the United Kingdom, has expressed his desire to work with the Pakistan cricket team on its upcoming tour of England.

A former first-class cricketer, who played for Islamabad in the 1990s as all-rounder, is a highly-educated, having done MBA and MSc in Elite Performance Sport Psychology from the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science at the Bangor University, Gwynedd in Wales and has been based in the UK since 1999.

Taimoor, 39, has the added distinction of being the first Pakistan-born to complete a thesis on cricket and while talking exclusively to Dawn from Nottingham on Saturday, he stressed the need to attach a sports psychologist with the Pakistan squad on what is expected to be a demanding tour in the coming weeks — their first Test trip to England since the spot-fixing controversy rocked the cricketing world in 2010 when the then Pakistan skipper Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were banned by the ICC for their involvement.

“Countries like Australia, England, India and South Africa realise the importance of mental training along with physical and skill training which is evident from their performance. At the top level players selected have the skill set and emphasis is given on their physical conditioning but mental training is of immense importance at that level,” Taimoor emphasised.

“In order to be successful and achieve greatness you are not only required to have the skill set or physical toughness but mental training is also of utmost importance.

“The way cricketers or other athletes practise their skills in their respective sport in the same manner they need to practise psychological interventions to achieve mental toughness to have longevity in their career.”

Analysing the importance of sports psychology, Taimoor offered to help Pakistan put up their best possible performance by working in liaison with the players, majority of whom have not played Tests in England.

“As a sport psychology consultant, my mental workout training emphasis on the identity statement, performance statement, visualisation, imagery, effective goal-setting, personal reward programme, solution-focused tools and mental toughness,” he remarked.

“In my thesis on cricket I developed a vision, support and challenge measure and transformational leadership behaviors, predicting vision, support and challenge within team sport.

“I believe that insecurity and uncertainty creates fear among Pakistan team cricketers which has a negative effect on their performance outcome.

“To enhance the performance and produce great results there is a need to build a strong team culture based on targeted behaviours such as inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individual consideration, fostering acceptance of group goals, appropriate role modeling, performance expectations and contingent reward for positive reinforcement.

“On such a demanding and long tour of England continuous psychological and physiological support is of utmost importance for the Pakistan cricket team,” Taimoor said.

“As we are all aware that after the spot-fixing scandal on the previous trip [in 2010] this is going to be the first Test series between the two countries in England. Therefore, there will be immense pressure on players.

“The Pakistani players undoubtedly will be under a lot of scrutiny from the British media. The importance of a sport psychology consultant is of great importance for this tour,” Taimoor added.

April 11, 2019 at 7:31 PM