Mentally Weak or Chokers?

[Dhondy]

Coming on the back of India's astonishingly poor record in ODI finals of late, a debate rages on this forum as to whether Indians are mentally weak. Do they choke in pressure situations? Certainly a record of 18 losses in 20 finals points to mental frailty, of failure to rise to the occasion when it really matters. But what about Tests? Are India psychologically challenged there too? I prefer to dichotomise mental frailty and choking. Frailty is when you fail to fight back against adversity, and succumb to odds that seem insurmountable. Choking is when you are ahead in the game, and seize defeat from the embrace of victory. How do we apply this distinction in Tests to sort the bravehearted from the infirm? Thus defined, I'd classify mental frailty as inability to come back and win after conceding a first innings lead. Conversely, I'd define choking as inability to capitalise on the favourable situation of leading on the first innings. The dreaded ills thus enunciated, I looked at India vis-a-vis her two greatest rivals, Australia and Pakistan. I limited the period under review to the last 5 years to keep it relevant to the current sides. This is what I found. In the last 5 years, India has won 20 Test matches against various comers. In only 2 of these, they clawed back a first innings deficit en route to victory, famously on both occasions against Australia, at Adelaide in 2003, and on that pitch at Mumbai. Isn't it instructive that just yesterday, we were discussing their greatest come back win against the same rivals inspired by Laxman, now 7 years ago? Over the same period, Australia won 41 Test matches. They overturned a deficit on 6 occasions. The equivalent period saw Pakistan win 16 Tests. On no less than 6 occasions, twice against BD, and once each against NZ, WI, England and SL, they overturned first innings deficits, often rather large ones, to achieve victory. In the same five-year period, India lost 12 Tests, and in 2 of these, they threw away a first innings lead. Australia lost only 5 times, having taken the lead on 2 occasions, and Pakistan were beaten on 14 occasions, again having held a first innings advantage on 2 occasions. It is quite clear therefore that while Pakistan win less often than India, they are very good at fighting back against adversity, and given the rather large deficits they have overcome, from apparently hopeless situations. Australia don't do too badly either, and despite steamrolling sides more often than not, they showed remarkable resilience on their last tour of SL to overcome 3 successive first innings deficits. You can never really write off the world champions. The derisory tag of "choker" often bandied about to describe India is unjustified though. The stats above show that they are no worse than their rivals at relinquishing an advantage. There is no clear cut choker among these three sides. Sadly therefore, India's ODI conundrum haunts then in Tests too. If you study the innings in the ODI finals they have figured in, you'd probably find a similar pattern. They fall behind quite early in the course of the match, and never recover. This is misclassified, and perhaps vainly described as choking. Our cricketers quite clearly need to develop some spine.

[cowboysfan]

I dont know .If you are good enough to get to the finals and get beaten comprehensively in the finals again and again by a team who you have beaten easily in the previous matches then in my book you are chokers who are mentally frail.We cant pin it on person either because we have lost so many finals that I think we should be in the history books for losing finals in any sport.

[Ram]

There's no science/logic to why we dont win as many finals as we should. Its just an unfortunate twist of fate/probability/luck, or whatever you want to put it as. In the middle of all those missed chances, we have some pretty famous triumphs too. How about the high-voltage T20 world cup, when we prevailed in a series of must-win games, least of all two nail-biting encounters against Pakistan, to win the cup? That was pressure at its most extreme, but our players came out trumps. What about the CB series finals, especially the first one, were we expertly chased a stiff target? Recently, there was a stat in cricinfo that said India had the most number of successful 300+ run chases. And its common knowledge that we hold the record for the most number of successful run chases in ODI history. The less said about our test exploits, the better. No weak-hearted team could have won against such diverse and tough opponents as we have. All of this point to the fact that we have what it takes to win, but somehow, due unexplainable turn of the events, we falter at the final hurdle. This is very similar to what the Saffies were going through till recently, when they were branded chokers in pressure situations. The fact of the matter is, if a team REALLY is filled with a bunch of spineless players, there is no way, it could have climbed to no.2 in the test rankings, won the T20 world cup and the CB series. Even taking the last 2 finals that we lost as example, the kitply cup was pure bad luck. We played gallantly, fought till the finish, but in the end, we werent good enough. It was our misfortune that Butt and Younis found form in that game. When you two of your opposition batsman score 100s in a big final, there's not a lot you can actually do about it. And as for the Asia cup finals, we were defeated by the genius of one man, and there's no shame in accepting that. Another day, another time, these same batsman will show Ajantha Mendis what it is to bowl to world class batsman against spin, but on that day, the solitary fact that he was an unknown quantity alone, won it for the Lankans. Bottom line, we arent chokers, nor are we mentally weak. If we were, we wouldnt be no.2 in the test rankings.

[Brainfade]

Nice analysis. Here is my uneducated psychobabble take: I have noticed that, in several ODI tournaments, the team struggles to make the finals. They put themselves in a position where they have to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to make the finals. And they do. By that time, they (a) have expended large amounts of emotional energy and (b) have felt the euphoria of a hard-earned accomplishment Together, it makes it difficult to "get up" and focus well in a Final. Of course, this hypothesis may be statistically tested, but I leave that to the experts.

[satishg]

well v definitely are not chokers but i do agree with the fact that v dont show the resilient attitude wen the things are going against us..we seem to accept the fact that once the opponent team starts playing really well there is a resignation on our side as if to say that ok the match is gone..this has happened in quite a lot of finals prior to the young T20 squad..as MM said that squad really fought in all the matches..they never gave up..they believed that they could win from any situation and ultimately its that belief that enables us to win the WC..and we had the same belief in the CB series as well..and the team fought even in defeats..the kitply cup final could also be classified in the same manner..although v lost 6 wickets for 150 runs we fought and made it to 294..so i strongly believe that this young team is capable of overcoming that final hurdle..the Asia cup final can be termed as an anomaly coz of Mendis mystery..not even a single batsmen could pick him and that resulted in the teams loss..its more of self belief that makes a champion side..Aussies always believe that they can win from any situation..they dont concede defeat at all..this self belief has been missing in our teams of the past..Sourav did instill it wen he was the captain but then it somehow never materialized on the long run..Dhoni is somehow similar to Sourav in this aspect and he is a confident individual..so hope the transition from "nearly-the-best" team to the "best" team takes place in his reign..we need that "never-say-die" attitude that single bloody mindedness thot to win no matter wat..similar to how justin langer treats his batting.. and MM ur idea of bad luck/fate/probability are all fine if it is for 3 to 4 tournaments but 22 finals no way we can call that fate..our team is not ruthless and wen the other team starts playing really well we tend to give up easily..so the bottom line is the young squad needs the self belief and never say die attitude to turn the tide in the finals..and hope they do it soon..

[Dhondy]

OK, let me lift the spirits here with some heady stats. Of those 5 Tests Australia lost in the 5 years, three were to India. The other two were of course in the much discussed Ashes series when England fielded possibly their best ever bowling attack. I don't have to point out that India have won two Tests in Australia during this period. No other side has achieved even a single victory. There's something about Australia that eggs Indians on to lift their game. Why can't we bottle and uncork it against the other sides?

[cowboysfan]

OK, let me lift the spirits here with some heady stats. Of those 5 Tests Australia lost in the 5 years, three were to India. The other two were of course in the much discussed Ashes series when England fielded possibly their best ever bowling attack. I don't have to point out that India have won two Tests in Australia during this period. No other side has achieved even a single victory. There's something about Australia that eggs Indians on to lift their game. Why can't we bottle and uncork it against the other sides?

maybe we like being the underdog.I know a lot of teams (in other sports too) who play out of their minds when they are the underdogs but fail to live up to their potential when they are the favourites.

[Lurker]

There's no science/logic to why we dont win as many finals as we should. Its just an unfortunate twist of fate/probability/luck' date= or whatever you want to put it as.

I will probably go with this obervation as well. The way I look at it is it is very hard to tag a team, any team, a "choker" when they play over a period of time. The Indian team that lost the Asia Cup was made of players like Sharma, Pathan, Kumar, Gambhir etc etc who were not even in the reckoning 2 years back. So how fair is it to compare the same players with a team of players from 10 years back?? If you consider a decade worth's of data it is fairly prudent to say none of the current Indian players were playing ten years ago(except maybe Sehwag). If a 1998 ODI team keeps faltering in 2008 then yes there is a choker issue but since the team members have all been changed the choking philosphy will ultimately mean its not the players but the entire nation, and its pool of players that are chokers. Not sure if thats true.

[yoda]

we get to so many finals cause cricket is made up of a whole bunch of mediocre teams. in the finals one of them rises to the occasion and typically it is not us cause we are too thrilled to just make it there.

[The Outsider]

A very well thought and written out distinction between the two, Dhondy. As far as I can remember in my days of following cricket, the choker word or tag became popular after the '99 WC SF in which South Africa tied with Australia(lost for all practical purposes). It was an apt description for that situation for time and again South Africa were in winning positions during the match and would fritter them away. It has become the one of the most inappropriately used words since. How can losing by 100 runs qualify as choking even though you were 70-1 at one stage? There are still 200 runs to get. There are many similar examples. True, India have not been a mentally strong team and have frittered away positions of strength at times and times have been completely outplayed from ball 1, but they have done very little of choking.

[King]

The best prescribed way to counter such mental fragility is to not worry about the outcome and play natural cricket. This is what sets the Aussies apart from the rest. They take every game with similar pride and a final is no different to them than a first ODI of a bilateral series. Under Dhoni, India seemed to look like that but alas the consistency is lacking. There are couple of ways a team in the finals can fail to perform to their ability. The first is that they get a bit too carried away and get over confident for their own demise. Second, they completely fret playing in finals and have self doubt that stops them from playing their natural game. I suppose the second option is what India seems to embrace in finals. They seem a little unsure why they reached the finals in the very first place. A lot of Indian players look like zombies often in a crucial game simply because they are worrying way too much about the outcome even when they have no control over the variables whatsoever. For a team to collectively do well, the individuals should be nurtured to enjoy the pressure. There are couple of ways to deal with pressure, one get a bit too anxious and lose out on natural ability or understand the anxiety is the physical/chemical reaction in the body that is setting them up for a great occasion. Those that enjoy pressure will do well under pressure and vice versa. Again if you have the ability you will feel the anxiety and the pressure is good. When you aren't good enough or if there are self doubts about one's ability, the same anxiety and pressure will work heavily against you. In the end, if you have trained enough, organized yourself well for an upcoming game then there is no reason why shouldn't enjoy the pressure. The anxiety and self-defeating beliefs are major causes why an individual that is very talented struggles to perform under pressure. This is where the mental side of the training comes to immense help. It helps sportsmen to play "In the now" i.e. not worry about outcomes but just play in a Zen mode (leave the decision making to mind and body rather than tweak it). Sometimes a lesser team may perform well in a finals simply because they are the underdogs or do not have to worry about the outcome. A player performs extremely differently in a game situation as compared to a training or a lesser important game. This is simply because their mind is clear of all thoughts and that helps them concentrate rather on the moment of play than worry about things that they cannot control. This is supposed to be the best approach and most successful international sportsmen would have mastered this art. To play “In the now”. Unfortunately Indian players at times succumb under pressure because they have too much riding on them and they do not make it easy for themselves by only appearing that world will come to end if they do not perform. An attitude such as “Play like there’s no tomorrow” is old fashioned and that is exactly why top sportsmen buckle under pressure. If they just went out there, trusted their ability given their years of training and not worry about the outcome they will be better off. It’s lot easier to say this but hard to practice. Hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible though, this is where mental training that is so much a necessity of sportman’s arsenal comes in handy. They say it’s 10% talent and 90% mental ability in international cricket but I don’t reckon the players put in even 5% of their time in mental training. I suppose India should appoint a full time sports psychologist given the amount of pressure that comes from outside the team and the amount of anxiety the younger players experience due to this kind of pressure.

[Dhondy]

An attitude such as “Play like there’s no tomorrow” is old fashioned and that is exactly why top sportsmen buckle under pressure. If they just went out there, trusted their ability given their years of training and not worry about the outcome they will be better off.

That's just so true, Ravi. Great sportsmen put sport in perspective and don't elevate it to life and death situations. Olympic diving gold medallist Greg Louganis once said, "It won't matter if I don't win. My mother will still love me." And who was the Aussie cricketer who famously said? "Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is when you are flying at 10,000 feet with a Messerschimdt up your ass."

[King]

That's just so true, Ravi. Great sportsmen put sport in perspective and don't elevate it to life and death situations. Olympic diving gold medallist Greg Louganis once said, "It won't matter if I don't win. My mother will still love me." And who was the Aussie cricketer who famously said? "Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is when you are flying at 10,000 feet with a Messerschimdt up your ass."

Those are two fantastic quotes Dhondy especially the first one. If you think "Can I", you are leaving it to too many variables and often you can't. If you change those words to "I can", most often you will. It should be kept quite simple IMO. Cricket in particular is a game of variables. You don't know what's in store really. A tough pitch, a good bowler, a terrific catch or fielding effort could play a spoil sport for a batsman. If you are worrying about those variables then you aren't trusting your ability to come up trumps. Batting is all all about muscle memory. "Asia Cup" is a fantastic example. Indians struggled against Mendis because they don't have it in their muscle memory how to play subtle variations. Perhaps short of practice against such bowling played spoil sport for the Indians. Suddenly the batsmen could not draw upon muscle memory and started to worry about the variations. It became hard for them to pick the ball because they were pre-occupied with the variables such as Mendis' variations. The only way to beat that is by practicing enough against such bowling. The World Cup'99 semi finals is another fantastic example. While Klusener was completely relaxed, the experienced Donald panicked. Donald was too preoccupied with the result while the Aussies trusted their ability.

[Dhondy]

Those are two fantastic quotes Dhondy especially the first one. If you think "Can I", you are leaving it to too many variables and often you can't. If you change that word to "I can", most often than not you will. It should be kept quite simple IMO. Cricket in particular is a game of variables. You don't know what's in store really. A tough pitch, a good bowler, a terrific catch or fielding effort could play a spoil sport for a batsman. If you are worrying about those variables then you aren't trusting your ability to come up trumps. Batting is all all about muscle memory. "Asia Cup" is a fantastic example. Indians struggled against Mendis because they don't have it in their muscle memory how to play subtle variations. Perhaps short of practice against such bowling played spoil sport for the Indians. Suddenly the batsmen could not draw upon muscle memory and started to worry about the variations. It became hard for them to pick the ball because they were pre-occupied with the variables such as Mendis' variations. The only way to beat that is by practicing enough against such bowling. The World Cup'99 semi finals is another fantastic example. While Klusener was completely relaxed, the experienced Donald panicked. Donald was too preoccupied with the result while the Aussies trusted their ability.

You make such compelling reading when you talk passionately like this, Ravi, throwing in anecdotes to illustrate your point. Look forward to reading more of you on your blog. Promises to be a blockbuster.

[King]

You make such compelling reading when you talk passionately like this, Ravi, throwing in anecdotes to illustrate your point. Look forward to reading more of you on your blog. Promises to be a blockbuster.

I hope so, usually I tend to go into too much technical details and that could be a put off. Nevertheless I'm hoping to churn away at least a BLog entry every week on cricket.

[Fontaine]

It's not choking because it specifically belongs to teams that are superior and should be winning but don't perform under pressure situations like finals. In the past India couldn't be considered a great bet to win because they weren't a balanced team. However, with the emergence of better bowlers/fielding we're seeing an Indian team that can bowl/field well and this enhances their chances of winning as we've seen the ODI/ 20/20 teams do very well in the finals recently. Give it time. Every year our young pacers will gain experience and refine their skills and by the next world cup we'll have an all around balanced team that's still pretty strong in batting.

[Gambit]

Some real good posts Dhondy and ravi. :top:

[Fontaine]

The best prescribed way to counter such mental fragility is to not worry about the outcome and play natural cricket. This is what sets the Aussies apart from the rest. They take every game with similar pride and a final is no different to them than a first ODI of a bilateral series. Under Dhoni, India seemed to look like that but alas the consistency is lacking. There are couple of ways a team in the finals can fail to perform to their ability. The first is that they get a bit too carried away and get over confident for their own demise. Second, they completely fret playing in finals and have self doubt that stops them from playing their natural game. I suppose the second option is what India seems to embrace in finals. They seem a little unsure why they reached the finals in the very first place. A lot of Indian players look like zombies often in a crucial game simply because they are worrying way too much about the outcome even when they have no control over the variables whatsoever. For a team to collectively do well, the individuals should be nurtured to enjoy the pressure. There are couple of ways to deal with pressure, one get a bit too anxious and lose out on natural ability or understand the anxiety is the physical/chemical reaction in the body that is setting them up for a great occasion. Those that enjoy pressure will do well under pressure and vice versa. Again if you have the ability you will feel the anxiety and the pressure is good. When you aren't good enough or if there are self doubts about one's ability, the same anxiety and pressure will work heavily against you. In the end, if you have trained enough, organized yourself well for an upcoming game then there is no reason why shouldn't enjoy the pressure. The anxiety and self-defeating beliefs are major causes why an individual that is very talented struggles to perform under pressure. This is where the mental side of the training comes to immense help. It helps sportsmen to play "In the now" i.e. not worry about outcomes but just play in a Zen mode (leave the decision making to mind and body rather than tweak it). Sometimes a lesser team may perform well in a finals simply because they are the underdogs or do not have to worry about the outcome. A player performs extremely differently in a game situation as compared to a training or a lesser important game. This is simply because their mind is clear of all thoughts and that helps them concentrate rather on the moment of play than worry about things that they cannot control. This is supposed to be the best approach and most successful international sportsmen would have mastered this art. To play “In the now”. Unfortunately Indian players at times succumb under pressure because they have too much riding on them and they do not make it easy for themselves by only appearing that world will come to end if they do not perform. An attitude such as “Play like there’s no tomorrow” is old fashioned and that is exactly why top sportsmen buckle under pressure. If they just went out there, trusted their ability given their years of training and not worry about the outcome they will be better off. It’s lot easier to say this but hard to practice. Hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible though, this is where mental training that is so much a necessity of sportman’s arsenal comes in handy. They say it’s 10% talent and 90% mental ability in international cricket but I don’t reckon the players put in even 5% of their time in mental training. I suppose India should appoint a full time sports psychologist given the amount of pressure that comes from outside the team and the amount of anxiety the younger players experience due to this kind of pressure.

Excellent post but I feel there's a large factor that is missing that is a significant cause of the pressure you alluded to above. The undeniable back lash which occurs at the sight of failure that is ever present in Indian Cricket. Our cricketers are treated less and less as sportsmen and more like a lunatic fixation. Obviously there are genuine cricket enthusiasts and fans who see the sport for what is (they are a dwindling minority), there is an ever increasing movement of knee jerk reactions manifesting as effigy burning, mob inspired condemnation, match fixing allegations and yes even physical/death threats. It's one thing to mentally train our cricketers to trust themselves but how do you "train" players to handle lunatic mobs that gather outside their family homes, pushed on by the shameless media, followed by a BCCI witch hunt whenever they fail in any sort of meaningfull competition? I'll tell you an honest observation. Most of us would do anything to be in the position of a Dhoni, Ganguly, Dravid etc but how many of us would change our minds after lunatic fans, sensationalist media harassed and hounded you, your family and loved ones at every turn and more so when you fail? I really wonder. Every Indian cricketer goes through this. Expectations are made sky high with no compromise from the media and fans and inevitably when it's crunch time in a high pressure game with hundreds of millions watching your every move, then it's impossible to forget that if you get out cheaply then everyone will question you, your family with be under virtual house arrest by a lunatic mob and the media will push the BCCI for a witch hunt. Maybe not for minor cups/competitions but definitey true for significant ones. There is no forgiveness, no acceptance, and no humbleness in defeat. Only swift judgement and harsh execution. That is an ever increasing reality of Indian cricket. It's no wonder really, that with this much baggage handing around, that the Indian team has under performed in finals or do or die situations before. And conversely, when there is no such lunatic expectation, our boys do fantastically well and play up to their talent levels such as the 20/20 world cup and CB series.

[CSK Fan]

Can someone tell me the difference beween the two? surley you choke becuase you are mentally weak?

[Bumper]

Good OP, Dhondy. But contrary to the popular belief, I simple disagree that a team that can lift itself to reach the finals so consistently, suddenly shows mental frailties come the finals. I have an alternate explanation. India were simply not the better team, in most of the head-to-head encounters in the finals. In cases, they were favorites, the margin of superiority of India, was so low, that it was anyone's game. India always lacked a strong bowling unit & relied heavily on her batsmen to bat the opponents out. This is a 'low probable strategy' as far as winning finals is concerned. Only teams that have a good bowling attack can win finals consistently. The two finals India won Down Under few months ago, illustrates this point. In the past India used to show up in the finals, only to have its a.$$ handed, by the Aussies. We were never able to bowl our opponents out or put them under pressure with our bowling. We conceded 320+ scores to the Aussies on a regular basis or will let them chase down targets with 10 overs to spare. However, we bowled well in the recent CB series. Its no coincidence, our victories in the finals, have come in games, with moderate totals. Very very rarely do you see us chase down 300+ in a finals (as was the case with Natwest finals). SL posted a moderate total in the Asia cup finals, but they had Mendis, as a surprise weapon. SL won because of its bowlers, period. We gave away 300+ in the prev finals vs Pak. If you concede 300+ in a finals, you will make most average teams look great. In almost all of the finals that we've lost, we've broken down because of our bowling. The sheer weight of runs would wear our strong batting lineup down & the pressure of the losing history in the finals, does the rest. And we were hardly favorites in most of the finals we've played this decade. We've faced SL & Aus in most of the finals this decade & almost everytime we were the underdogs. In some sense, we are under the illusion that we are infact better than we actually are. India is at best a good ODI team. But on a given day, any non minnow, can beat us. We simply dont have the bowling resources to consistently choke the opponents like Aus, SL or SA can. Incidentally these are the three teams, that have done well in finals.