World Cup: India and the joy of winning together
It’s a convenient coincidence that India’s first proper break at this World Cup has come after a game at Dharamsala. Having played against New Zealand on October 22 – their fifth game in two weeks – it’s exactly a week later that they face England in Lucknow. In a tight schedule where there’s little respite from the routine of packing, travelling, unpacking, training and playing, India couldn’t have had a better destination than Dharamsala for this interval. And they seem to have made the most of it before flying to Lucknow on Wednesday afternoon.
India’s Virat Kohli celebrates with KL Rahul, and skipper Rohit Sharma after hitting the winning runs during their match against Bangladesh (ANI )
Over the past couple of days, instead of travelling back to their homes after a four-wicket win over New Zealand, they soaked in the peace and serenity of the hill town in Himachal Pradesh. While the coaching staff and Kuldeep Yadav took the challenging trek to Triund on Tuesday, Virat Kohli visited the Chinmaya Tapovan Ashram. Most of the players rested in their hotel rooms.
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Not that their minds would have completely switched off from cricket. It’s not possible when they’re in the middle of a World Cup campaign. “The outside world thinks cricketers get separated when they rest for eight days. That’s not true,” pacer Mohammed Shami told reporters in Dharamsala on Sunday. “Cricketers always want to be better and better. So, there are always some activities related to cricket. There’s no off. There’s never an off.”
It helps that India are on an impressive winning run – five fairly convincing victories out of five matches as India head the points table with a semi-final spot all but assured. In the three weeks since India reached Chennai for their opening game against Australia, the convivial team environment has manifested itself in different ways.
In Ahmedabad, after the game against Pakistan, Kuldeep Yadav was happy to sit through Mohammed Siraj’s press conference and chuckle at some of his serious answers while waiting for his turn to speak to the media. In Delhi, Suryakumar Yadav and batting coach Vikram Rathour engaged in constant banter during a competitive net session where the middle-order batter was set a challenging target for his final six deliveries. The new ritual of awarding a medal to the best fielder after every game is perhaps another indicator.
“Everyone is enjoying each other’s success. It’s like we are brothers… the performance can be up or down, but we are taking each other along. If somebody’s day hasn’t gone well, we are giving confidence. That’s the good thing about the dressing room. That is why we are getting continued success,” Siraj said in Dharamsala. “When we are at the hotel, we have lunch together. We sit at the pool, do our recovery, listen to songs, enjoy, and have fun with each other. That is the bonding we have. Outside the ground, what’s happening is also very important. Because the World Cup comes after four years. This is not a bilateral series… So, everyone wants to win the World Cup and having this environment is very important.”
While the strains of a long campaign aren’t necessarily felt when a team is winning, success brings its own challenges. “It’s perhaps easier to smile when you are winning, but it also means a different kind of pressure,” sports psychologist Gayatri Madkekar, who works with athletes such as ace paddler Sharath Kamal and shuttler Lakshya Sen, said.
“You’ve hit a winning streak early on, now there are more expectations. There are already people speaking about the knockouts and who India are going to play in the semis. Dealing with those kinds of conversations is not easy. In sport, you have to have the right amount of aggression to be able to peak. When you’re winning and you get into this maintenance zone, then sometimes you are not able to build that aggression for yourself. That’s a tricky phase to be in. On the flipside, when you’re losing, yes, you’re not all smiles but you still have to believe that you can win the next game because it’s a fresh game. So, the hunger is maybe slightly more in those situations. But when you are winning, the nature of pressure changes.”
Mental recovery is as crucial as physical recuperation after a game, said Madkekar. “Let’s say you scored a century or took a five-wicket haul. When you’re playing another game, there are a lot of expectations to repeat that kind of performance. Mental recovery is a place where you reset yourself to a neutral space. When you’ve scored a hundred, you don’t start counting your runs from 101 the next time, right? Mental recovery also means you start from ground zero before any game.”
Players, nevertheless, often speak about capitalising on momentum. The key, said sports psychologist Janki Deole, is to carry the positive emotions of a victory into a fresh game while understanding that its outcome is not fully in their control.
“Generally, in a team sport, momentum plays a big role. When you are winning, that momentum helps you move from one game to another. But before every game, expectations need to be reevaluated and reset. That’s something teams and players typically do to take each match as new. When a team has won 2-3 matches in a row, the key is to take confidence from it. But also understand that a new match needs to be handled in a fresh manner,” she said.
Over the course of a long tournament, it’s important that players on the periphery partake in the team’s success. If they are sulking, it can impact the mood of the dressing room and their own performance when given an opportunity. Shami set the right example in Dharamsala with a five-for after sitting out of the first four games.
“When you are not playing, it is very difficult. But if your team is performing, your boys are moving in a rhythm, then I don’t think you should feel guilty sitting out; because you are also a part of the team and a part of the World Cup. Everyone should enjoy each other’s success,” Shami said. “My outlook is to keep enjoying. Because in India the biggest sport is cricket. The biggest place is where you are sitting. It’s not necessary to be there (in playing XI). You have 15 players, four have to stay out. So, by being positive, I feel you will get more results.”
India will hope their players exude this cheerful mindset for the rest of this campaign.
