By Faisal Caesar
For some time now, batting has been the main cause of concern for Bangladesh as more of than not they tend to throw their wickets away by indulging in reckless strokes. This has led to the team suffering heavy defeats.
The Bangladesh batsmen have had sound coaching, but their failing can largely be attributed to lack of mental strength. At the highest level of the game, its temperament that divides wheat from the chaff.
Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara’s mental make-up is exemplary. And that has been a huge contributing factor to their greatness. They follow a mental routine against all bowlers.
What is this mental routine?
According to Greg Chappell, mental routine comprises ‘Awareness’, ‘Fine focus’ and ‘Fierce focus.’
‘Awareness’ as Greg Chappell says, is the state of mind in which a batsman is well aware of what is happening around him, but he is not acutely focused on any one thing. It is used while waiting to go into bat, between balls and between overs.
‘Fine focus’ is the state of mind that comes after being aware of the situation and at this stage a batsman gets focused when a bowler is at the top of his bowling mark. At this point a batsman will move his focus to the bowler’s face and which gives the batsman an insight into the bowler’s emotional state and, via his peripheral vision, about the body language of the bowler.
As a bowler reaches his delivery point, the batsman mind shifts to ‘Fierce focus’ by narrowing his visual field and devoting his attention to the point from which the ball will be delivered and when the bowler will deliver the ball the batsman’s focus will only be on the bowler’s hand and the ball leaving it.
This is the combination that is needed to build long innings and script epic knocks. Only in the very rarest of occasions this combination is found amongst Bangladeshi batsmen. And unless, the Bangladesh batsmen come to grips with this all-important aspect, they will continue to flounder at the highest level of the game.
For some time now, batting has been the main cause of concern for Bangladesh as more of than not they tend to throw their wickets away by indulging in reckless strokes. This has led to the team suffering heavy defeats.
The Bangladesh batsmen have had sound coaching, but their failing can largely be attributed to lack of mental strength. At the highest level of the game, its temperament that divides wheat from the chaff.
Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara’s mental make-up is exemplary. And that has been a huge contributing factor to their greatness. They follow a mental routine against all bowlers.
What is this mental routine?
According to Greg Chappell, mental routine comprises ‘Awareness’, ‘Fine focus’ and ‘Fierce focus.’
‘Awareness’ as Greg Chappell says, is the state of mind in which a batsman is well aware of what is happening around him, but he is not acutely focused on any one thing. It is used while waiting to go into bat, between balls and between overs.
‘Fine focus’ is the state of mind that comes after being aware of the situation and at this stage a batsman gets focused when a bowler is at the top of his bowling mark. At this point a batsman will move his focus to the bowler’s face and which gives the batsman an insight into the bowler’s emotional state and, via his peripheral vision, about the body language of the bowler.
As a bowler reaches his delivery point, the batsman mind shifts to ‘Fierce focus’ by narrowing his visual field and devoting his attention to the point from which the ball will be delivered and when the bowler will deliver the ball the batsman’s focus will only be on the bowler’s hand and the ball leaving it.
This is the combination that is needed to build long innings and script epic knocks. Only in the very rarest of occasions this combination is found amongst Bangladeshi batsmen. And unless, the Bangladesh batsmen come to grips with this all-important aspect, they will continue to flounder at the highest level of the game.
