Sports Reporter

Bangladesh cricket is going through its toughest period in a while and suffering one defeat after another across the formats has definitely taken a toll on the player’s mental preparations while intense criticism on social media platforms has served only to reinforce the negative vibe around the national team.

After a debacle in the ICC T20 World Cup, the Tigers were whitewashed by Pakistan in a three-match T20I series as well as a two-match Test series at home. With their backs against the wall, the demoralised Bangladesh team travelled to New Zealand for yet another challenging series.

According to Ali Khan, a Bangladesh-born Canadian psychologist who worked on the Tigers’ mental fitness in 2014, continuous failures have hurt the team’s confidence.

“The nature of the human mind is such that once emotions, be they positive or negative, start piling up, their burden reduces the confidence, self-belief and trust that one has on their own performances and abilities. Since results have been poor consistently, pressure from social media, mainstream media, the authorities and other external forces have been piling up. So insecurity and a lack of confidence denies them from maintaining optimal performance,” Ali told The Daily Star yesterday, adding that the effects were compounded by a lack of help from experts.

“The players continuously face challenges but I think the team lacks psychological training. It is absent from their daily routine. Obviously, we have left it to destiny, hoping their psychological fitness remains intact. You can see the drain on their performance whenever they face continuous defeats or face challenges.”

Ali prescribed that the Tigers should focus on the task at hand when they are out in the middle instead of overthinking and analysing other probable results, which could lead to lapses in concentration.

“When the players are going through a tough period, it creates a huge interference in the brain. Due to that, they are unable to give their best. Their minds are engaged on better results, but while performing your mind should be engaged on the present task. Once you have full focus on the task, the players can reach their optimal levels of performance,” he said.

Ali, who has worked as a ‘life coach’ with golfer Siddikur Rahman, also opined that all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s consistent performances over the years owes to his mental toughness, a characteristic that sets him apart from others.

“In 2014, when I worked with the national team for the first time, I was discussing the characteristics of a champion’s mind. After that discussion, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza stood up and said there was one man who had all the attributes. When I asked who that was, Mashrafe replied: ‘Shakib Al Hasan, the number one all-rounder in the world’.

“The greater the competition, the greater the mental pressure. A majority of players are unable to stay calm and that hampers their performance. Those who can maintain such focus for a longer period of time, only those few are able to maintain their performance,” Ali added.

Life inside bio-secure bubbles has also had a psychological impact on players, with Ali opining that there should be an expert with the team to help players to overcome mental barriers and adjust.