MiD DAY provides a few examples of how players react to defeat in the light of a report that juniors were not deeply saddened by India's Champions Trophy exit
MiD DAYu00a0providesu00a0a few examples of how players react to defeat in the light of a report that juniors were not deeply saddened by India's Champions Trophy exit
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BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Prof Ratnakar Shetty's concerns about attitudes of younger players need to be addressed, but no coach in the world can teach a player how to feel utterly distraught after a defeat.
According to PTI, Shetty revealed during a talk at a recent function how some junior players who were part of India's Champions Trophy team didn't feel bad after their ouster from the South Africa event.
Dilip Vengsarkar couldn't sleep well for two months after Mumbai's Ranji Trophy final loss to Haryana in 1991.
The former India captain couldn't hold back the tears that evening at the Wankhede Stadium. The same Vengsarkar wept inconsolably even till he boarded the train to return home 34 Octobers ago after getting out for a duck on his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai at Bulsar.
India's young cricketers cannot get a better example of passion than Sachin Tendulkar.u00a0 He scored one of his best hundreds in a run chase against Pakistan in the Chennai Test of 1999, but his effort ended up in vain as India lost by 12 runs. When I asked then BCCI chief Raj Singh Dungarpur as to why Tendulkar had skipped the post match presentation ceremony, he said, "He's weeping in the dressing room."
And when Leander Paes lost the Wimbledon mixed doubles final earlier this year, he stayed locked up in his hotel room. "I was in my room simply beating myself up for two days," he told this newspaper.
Psychologist's view
Sports psychologist Dr BP Bam says: "If any player wants to be a champion, he has to be sensitive. For any player, commitment to his skill, game and team is the main thing. I find it hard to believe that young players would behave in such a carefree manner."u00a0u00a0
There's a story about how Dean Jones and paceman Bruce Reid were feeling great after helping Australia win the last Test against England in the 1986-87 Ashes. Jones scored an unbeaten 184 in Australia's first innings and led the batting charge. That he felt good about it did not go down well with his skipper Allan Border, who reminded Jones with the words, "We lost the Test series champ; we lost the Ashes. Do you know what that means?" Jones was only celebrating his first Test victory as an Australian player. Border may have been a party pooper then, but he changed Australian cricket with his tough as nails approach.
The National Cricket Academy in Bangalore has made attempts to get young players trained in character building. One hears they are now also taught how to handle their money.
All this is encouraging, but ultimately it's left to the players to feel responsible for their failures.
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One would reckon Mahendra Singh Dhoni's role will not be restricted to just field placing and fixing
batting orders.
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