Chokers Inc.

A World Cup final, a drawn test series against the Aussies down under, an unprecedented watershed tour of Pakistan, three of the greatest one-day batsmen in the team…all this looks good on the resume of any cricket team. And yet, the Indian cricketers seem to sweat and freeze at the same time when confronted with a difficult situation on a big stage. A situation that can be resolved by applying themselves to the basics suddenly turns into an exercise of performing the extraordinary. Basics?!? You would consider that to be the last thing a professional would screw up. But strange are the workings of the mind under pressure. From my own realm, the crappiest pieces of software in the market today are works of the best professionals under extreme deadlines and pressures.

In a brilliant article by Malcolm Gladwell titled “The Art of Failure”, he describes why some people panic or in sporting parlance, “choke” in the face of a challenge. He recreates that mind-boggling ’93 Wimbledon final between Jana Novotna and Steffi Graf, when Novotna leading 4-1, 40-30 in the final set inexplicably contrived to lose the match and the championship from there. Those brilliant volleys went into the net, that powerful forehand barely made it across…and he asked the question which Novotna herself could probably never answer. At that stage did she look across the net and suddenly realize that she was beating Steffi Graf, the greatest player of her generation? And in there lies the invisible boundary the mind suddenly crosses over and skills that becomes second nature to you, suddenly seem to desert you. A mind focusing on the task at hand suddenly becomes distracted with trying to the do the basic things right. In last night’s final, the Indians were 209/4 after 40 overs; the exact same score as the Sri Lankans at that stage. But then the aura of Murali probably took over at sometime, which resulted in trying to run non-existent runs and playing shots that weren’t on. And they made Murali, Chandana and Vaas look better on the day than they actually were. As they did on another forgettable day in Sharjah in 2000, when Indian cricket probably hit its nadir, match fixing apart. The Australian team is sensational and brilliant not because their cricketers are more gifted than any other cricketer, but because they have the belief in their skills to take them through in any situation. And that will be Greg Chappell’s biggest responsibility in his current assignment. His contribution will be valued not if he can coach Dhoni or Raina to have better techniques, but if he can coach them into performing on the big stage in pressure situations.

Confidence and self-belief are virtues often bandied about in post-match talks and pre-tournament discussions but rarely found in character on a cricket field. So doff your hats to the Flintoffs, the Dravids and the Warnes of this world because when they loose, it will be because the opponent was better, not because they “choked”.