Dubai: Aakash Chopra, the former Indian opener-turned-commentator, has been the quintessential ‘thinking cricketer.’
Though he may be only 38, Chopra’s ability to observe various nuances of the game has made him not only an inspirational coach, but also a commentator and good writer of the game.
Chopra, through his book Insider brings to light the making — and unmaking — of a cricketer. In the book he deals with backing one’s talent with the ability to handle pressure through various anecdotes and close interaction with cricketers.
In an exclusive interview to Gulf News, Chopra, who staged a coaching clinic for G Force Cricket Academy, spoke at length about his book.
“The book is called the Insider and as the name suggests it is taking the reader into the mind of a cricketer. It is an inside view for an outsider and this is my third book. This book is basically for younger guys who want to play cricket and older guys who just want to enjoy cricket. This will give you an understanding of the game as kids are often told how to concentrate and not get affected by the pressure. Unfortunately, nobody has actually taken the effort to explain what pressure is and how to handle it.”
Chopra throws light on what constitutes form, being out of form and how to concentrate. “These are all intangible things — pressure, form, concentration — and how you actually prepare for a game. Everybody will say you should prepare thoroughly, but how do you prepare for different formats and how do you prepare when you are next to go in to bat. These are all very practical things, but nobody really teaches these things. They believe you will grow and learn on your own, but this is a handbook which tells you how to chase 600 runs and how a batsman should approach it. Also mentioned is how to play a bouncer as there is technical and non-technical stuff, which is the mental stuff. It covers pretty much everything that a player should know,” he said.
Making of a cricketer
Chopra explains what is needed to make a cricketer: “The making of a cricketer happens over a period of time. The best thing that can happen to anyone is to know who they are and what their team is. Eventually players blossom when they understand what works for them and what doesn’t, because all of us are unique and there is no one-size-fits-all method. Of course, the fundamentals of the game have remained the same for the last 138 years, but execution of those fundamentals is quite different.”
What is it then that makes players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and AB de Villiers special, apart from their natural talent?
“You know nature and nurture both are equally essential to a player’s evolution. Even for a Mahendra Singh Dhoni — of course there were a lot of stuff in him which was natural — but if he did not nurture his talent properly, that would have gone to waste. Same is the case with AB de Villiers. There is a lot of natural talent and if he hadn’t nurtured it the way he had, he would be maybe a Kieron Pollard. Pollard also has a lot of natural talent, but is unable to make that transition and has remained a predominantly T20 cricketer. He has not fully nurtured the talent that he has and has worked hard on one skill which is to clear the fence in T20 cricket.
“He has not actually worked to become a better One-day cricketer and a potential Test cricketer because if he can hit the ball long distance, of course he can learn to defend too. So that is nurture. Something comes naturally to you and the rest has to be nurtured.”
Chopra elaborated: “People who are naturally gifted and nurture themselves become Virat Kohli, Dhoni and A.B. De Villiers. People with natural talent who don’t really nurture themselves — especially different parts of their skills — become Kieron Pollard. There are plenty of T20 players like this.
“Then there are the likes of David Warner who started as a T20 protégé and has become the best opener in the world at the moment in all formats.”
Chopra explained the mental aspect for a batsman to be successful. “From a batsman’s perspective you’ve got to train yourself to react to the ball keeping fundamentals in mind.
“Of course you will train very hard to get your fundamentals right and will like to know which ball is to be reacted and how. Every ball poses about six questions — forwards, backwards, off side, on side, attacking or defensive. So there are about six questions that you have to choose the right answer to on every single ball bowled to you. If you start thinking about those six questions, it is too difficult because there is no time. So you have to train yourself to get into a mental space where you are reacting to the ball and you trust them. That can also only happen if you are confident enough in your skill-set. It doesn’t happen on its own. If you are not trained, your body and mind will not reach the place where it should be.
“For example, if you are attempting a pull shot and if you are in a wrong position, there is a possibility you will get it on your head. For that you need to train and there are no shortcuts. Quality and quantity both are required. Quantity in practice and quality of practice are both required because that is what comes to your rescue in pressure situations. But eventually it will boil down to a situation where you are just reacting and not thinking.”
Getting back in form
Chopra then went on to explain what should be done when batsmen go out of form. “When you slip out of form, you have to keep reminding yourself that you are only one innings away from getting back to form. A good player scores around 50 every third or fifth innings. So when you have already failed twice, you are only three innings away from getting to a good score.
“ You have got to get into that mindset. You have to tell yourself that I am not going through a bad patch, I am coming close to a good patch. You have to train yourself to believe and eventually you will get into that habit.”
Do fielders too need a certain mindset to be successful? “The difference between a good fielder and an average fielder is that the average fielder will be thinking that the ball might come or might not come and even should not come. A good fielder is always not just anticipating, but also wanting the ball to come to him.”
Chopra’s book was released in India by Rahul Dravid, considered the ultimate thinking cricketer. “My book’s tagline is decoding the craft of cricket and when you are talking about the technical and the mental side of cricket there is no one better than Dravid, “ he said.
Narrating anecdotes in the book from his playing career, Chopra said: “There is a chapter on captaincy and an incident where Dravid, as the stand-in captain, came to my room on the eve of the Test match in Multan against Pakistan. Captains don’t do it. He said I believe in you and I trust in you and do not think about Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Sami. You have played Jason Gillespie and others and so I trust you. This was just a three-and-a-half minute conversation but it instilled a lot of faith in me. I thought that for this man, I can go through a wall.”