Renowned sports scientist Shayamal Vallabhjee in an interview with Sportstar spoke about the pressure of IPL on players. He also predicted how the behind closed doors concept could affect the players in the middle.
Impact of environment in IPL
Sports scientist and performance coach Shayamal Vallabhjee was associated with Kings XI Punjab as a technical coach for two seasons. His book ‘Breathe Believe Balance’ is coming out in August ahead of the IPL 2020 where Vallabhjee discussed about self-healing. In a recent interview, he was asked to share details and his observation regarding IPL players. He shared his thoughts on the importance of environment in the IPL. He explained with a fitting example of David Warner. “Cricket is a sensitive environment because there are so many factors that are beyond the control of one guy. For example, David Miller (South African batsman) is a game-changer and he was in amazing form but he wasn’t getting enough opportunities. My job was about helping him come to terms with that. If I don’t tell him that it is O.K. to sit on the side, that energy is going to affect the team negatively. It is not about asking a player to go sit down and do some breath exercise and you win.”
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Speaking about the environment, the IPL this time will be held without the audience. How could that affect the psychology of a cricketer? Vallabhjee said, “Previously, a young cricketer would draw energy from the environment of the IPL, the light, camera, full stadium, noise and cheerleaders. If the tournament is held, stadiums are going to be empty. You will see none of these trends apply. People have to draw strength from within and there is no environmental energy contributing to your performance. Nobody will scream if you take a good catch or hit a six. I will be fascinated to see how many of them are actually working on themselves.”
The high-profile names do not need external motivation
The veteran then threw light on some of the superstars who he believes do not need motivation from outside. On the contrary the young players need influence from the environment, Vallabhjee opined. “If you look at David Warner, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli, they will have a field day because they don’t need motivation from outside. They understand themselves. They can push themselves. These are the consistent ones. They will go up in leaps and bounds because they know how to motivate themselves. Similarly, AB de Villiers and Aaron Finch will not be too flustered by the environment because they spend time cultivating themselves.” He continued, “Young bowlers like Ankit Rajpoot are influenced by the environment. The youngsters could go completely erratic. My advice to every athlete is if you don’t understand yourself and identify the motivation factor to get up in the morning and work hard, then success is very fleeting.”
Vallabhjee has so far worked with quite a few high-profile cricketers. Among those he named KL Rahul as the focussed and strong one and the author is fascinated by Indian Test opener Mayank Agarwal as well. “KL Rahul is super-focussed and strong, and one guy I am fascinated by is Mayank Agarwal. Since the past three or four years, he has constantly shifted, worked on himself through mindfulness and meditation to find strength from within.” Outside India, Chris Gayle seems to be in control of the situation always according to the expert. “Chris Gayle is someone who takes out a lot of time for himself and he dictates the game. He is never flustered. He is in control of the situation.”
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