KL Rahul’s biggest adversary is his own mind, not Rabada, Anderson or Hazlewood

Kannanur Lokesh Rahul – better known as KL – no longer needs a batting coach or a video analyst to help him succeed as a Test opener. He needs the services of a sports – or better still, cricket – psychologist. Rahul was hailed as the ‘next big thing’ in Indian cricket not too long ago. He may have done well in white-ball cricket but as far as Tests go, he has been a failure; a terrible let down, in fact. What is bothering him? Is his batting technique not good enough for Tests or is it just his mind that has got itself into a terrible tangle? With his poor run, as an opener in Tests, he has sure been an embarrassment to those who have backed him despite criticism. Of course, he has also been an embarrassment to his own prodigious talent. [caption id=“attachment_5839801” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Illustration courtesy Austin Coutinho[/caption] There is a joke doing the social media rounds where Rahul is at his girlfriend’s place till late in the evening. The girl says, “Hey KL, my father will be back home by 10 pm!” “Don’t worry,” replies Rahul, “I shall be out before nine.” Humour aside, Rahul’s failures have been highlighted by the facility with which newcomer Mayank Agarwal – his Karnataka teammate — has opened for India in the last couple of Tests. The latter has played fluent strokes, defended dourly when needed and has been like a breath of fresh air in India’s top order. What separates them at the moment is perhaps, Rahul’s badly mangled psyche and Agarwal’s clear, uncluttered thought process. It is an acknowledged fact that technically, Rahul is up there among the best in limited overs cricket. He can play some breath-taking strokes when set. The problem is that he has been getting out regularly – before getting set — to the ball pitched on his fourth off-stump in Test matches; either dragging the ball onto his stumps or providing slip fielders with useful catching practice early in the innings. Is this a technical flaw or just a state of mind? Mexican writer, Don Miguel Ruiz once wrote, “Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is just like a flower, just like the ocean, just like the sun.” Rahul, sadly, has been weighed down by expectations and probably could do better by heeding Ruiz’s advice. He could return to thinking like a ‘rookie’ and rebuild his Test career, both mentally and technically. If Rahul’s problems at the beginning of his innings were technical, then Team India’s batting coach and the video analyst would have sorted them out sooner rather than later. Poking his bat at harmless deliveries, pitched on the fourth off-stump is an issue that can be corrected in the nets. However, mental scars left by repeatedly getting out in that manner cannot be easily wished away. Two of Test cricket’s greatest batsmen had their careers re-energised by Dr Rudi Webster, a sports psychologist in the 1980s. Greg Chappell was going through a harrowing time in the 1981-82 season, averaging just 17 in ten Tests. The psychologist helped Chappell pinpoint his technical flaw, which had crept in into his game as a result of not focusing on the ball as it left the bowler’s hand. The star batsman was soon back to scoring his customary hundreds and ended his career as a legend. Sir Vivian Richards, early in his career, used to suffer from anxiety attacks too as he awaited, impatiently, his turn to bat in a strong West Indies batting order. Dr Webster helped him relax and recommended that he bat higher in the order. By the time he retired, Sir Viv was known as one of the world’s finest batsmen ever. Rahul therefore desperately needs the services of a psychologist. Cricket pundits believe that Rahul does not know where his off-stump is. He has probably been told by many seniors, self-styled coaches and well-wishers to leave alone the ball that pitches well outside the off-stump. He may, therefore, be guilty of over-thinking the situation; over-analysing skill-execution. As a result, when he sees a ball pitched around off-stump, he tries to get his foot-movement, body-position, down-swing of the bat etc right. This leads to choking due to what is termed as ‘paralysis by analysis’. Another problem with Rahul’s batting could be that he keeps telling himself – every delivery — not to flirt with the ball that pitches wide of off-stump. What happens is quite the opposite. Mind trainers believe that telling yourself not to do something increases the likelihood of you doing it. Therefore, time and again, he plays at balls wide of off-stump unnecessarily and loses his wicket. Meditation, self-hypnosis and painting a positive mental picture of himself playing fluent strokes is the way forward for Rahul. Cricket psychologists can help him get rid of anxiety and the ‘fear of failure’ that has crept into his game from repeated early dismissals. Rahul, like Rohit Sharma, likes to get on with his game from the first ball that he faces. His style is more like Virender Sehwag than that of Rahul Dravid. Sehwag was a confident batsman who believed that the ball was there to be hit – on the stump or outside it. If and when Rahul starts believing in himself and his extraordinary abilities, he shall be difficult to be dislodged from batting in the top order for India, in Tests. Laird Hamilton, superstar of big-wave-surfing said in the 1960s, “Make sure that your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” Rahul’s biggest adversary right now is his own mind; not Rabada or Anderson or Hazlewood. The author is a caricaturist and sportswriter. A former fast bowler and coach, he is now a mental toughness trainer.