Mike Horn’s mind matters for Kolkata Knight Riders

Abu Dhabi: There is something special about South Africa-born adventurer Mike Horn which has made him the most sought-after man in cricket. Even a hand-shake from Horn, who shot to fame with his solo journey around the Equator in 2000 without any motor transport, is enough to pass on some of his confidence to you.

“I was able to cultivate a little bit spirit in the mind of the boys when I was with the Indian team and with South Africa with [former coach] Gary [Kirsten] and it helped. You know in this format it is very important to go out there with the will to win, and if we can cultivate that in a well-balanced team, [there’s] nothing like it,” said Horn, has joined Kolkata Knight Riders for a short stint ahead of the IPL season and was with the team during a training session at the Oval 1 here on Friday.

Horn added that there is no need to teach IPL players how to bowl and bat, but all they need was to know how to ‘act in a short time’.

“I think the psychological part is very important because they need to deal with the pressure. You have got different nationalities, cultures and then to work as a team knowing that you don’t really need to like your teammate but willing to fight it out together on the field is important to establish very early,” said Horn, who was awarded the prestigious Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year Award in 2001.

“The window [of the league] of seven weeks is very short to build a strong bond, and one has to act straight away from day one,” he added.

“Being best prepared for seven weeks and maintaining a stable line is important. There will always be peaks, lows, ups and downs. One of the major problems that I have seen in players is the pressure of delivering,” Horn, an extreme athlete whose feats include climbing the 8000m Broad Peak in the Himalayas without additional oxygen in 2010.

Horn, who had a similar stint with the Mumbai Indians last year, says that the most common problem with cricketers playing in the IPL is that know they have been paid heavily to deliver and that piles on the pressure right from the start.

“One failure and some of them get pushed down into a hole and it becomes very difficult to come out of it. There are cases when friends turn on them when they don’t perform. Then it becomes difficult to deal to be in the same circle. While playing Australia or South Africa, for example, they might play like enemies, and now to be friends suddenly is difficult. To broach such things is very important,” said Horn, who will be heading back after this short integration and heading for the Himalayas to climb the fourth highest peak, Makalu.