Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
Imam-ul-Haq in an Instagram chat:
"Regarding discipline, the best example is Younis Khan. Unfortunately, I couldn't play with him, though I did share a dressing room with him at Zalmi. He was said to be very disciplined, he would sleep at 9 pm. We need to focus on these things and performances automatically improve with discipline. For inner satisfaction, discipline is necessary and after that, things fix themselves.
"It depends on an individual how he takes pressure and criticism. As a sportsman, if you don't expect criticism, that's wrong. Media has become so large, we need to accept that if we do well, we'll be acknowledged and if we do badly then we'll get criticism. This happens with all sportsmen.
"Our system is such that if you feel in 2-3 innings, you come under pressure. You have media pressure and your performances become due. But you can't do anything about the innings that are past, the failures are failures. But if I keep thinking about that, it can affect my upcoming innings. So that's in the past, you have to recover from it.
"To recover, especially on tour, you need to stay in good company. If you stay alone then you start focusing on the negatives. We eat with the team members and watch movies, sit it one room so that we stay around positive people. Gatherings are important for positive vibes. Negative people are aplenty.
"When you're not in form, that's not the first time nor will it be the last time. It will continue during my cricketing career, but it's important to take it the right way and get back to the basics.
"This is why we get money and why we serve Pakistan because we need to take the pressure. International cricket isn't as tough as the pressure. You have a lot of responsibility. People recognize you and put expectations on you and if you don't deliver, you get criticism.
"I get criticism because of my relationship with Inzamam so when on tour, I try to stay away from social media and close my accounts and give them to my manager. I started this before the World Cup. I don't want to see social media whether I am doing well or badly. When I used to do well initially, I would check social media but then I realized that it's better to stay away completely.
"No cricketer knows how long you are going to play, 5 years or 10 years. But everyone knows that the pathway is hard work and commitment, you need to make sacrifices especially for international cricket because there are many new things in terms of skills and fitness that you need to maintain.
"Before the World Cup, PCB hired a psychologist Taimoor from England. He worked with us and I rate him really highly. He understood what was going on within us, our inner fight. He worked with us for two series in the Aus and Eng series before the World Cup.
"Our assistant coach Shahid Aslam works with us one on one during these days and asks us about our thoughts etc. He tries to make us think bigger. He told me one thing, that until your goals aren't massive, there is no point. Make your goals so big that when you tell someone else, they think you are crazy.
"This is my 3rd year with the Pakistan team. I achieved things that I would never even have thought of. I had a dream to play for Pakistan, I never knew when that would happen. But I always wanted to make sure I wasn't a one-match wonder or play a few games. I want to do something that makes my country remember me.
"I look at our greats. And now Babar is scoring so heavily, I wish him luck and I hope we get more players like that as well. For that, you need to have the commitment and accept that the learning process never ends, no matter how big a player you are. My goal is to be in the top 5 in every format. Alhamdulillah, I am playing 2 formats right now.
"If you ask any cricketer, they will all say I want to play for Pakistan for a long time and become a legend but that requires a lot of hard work and effort.
"Since I came into the Pakistan team, I didn't make any specific goals for myself. I feel that when you make goals for yourself, you come under pressure. I think that when I am enjoying cricket, it goes well for me.
"We have a lot of fear of failure in our team, I personally feel according to what I've assessed. When that happens that you can't perform consistently. This comes when you fear that after 2 failures, you may not be considered for the team.
"We look at other teams who are consistent. How many players do these other teams change? Since 2010, I have seen the likes of Warner, Finch, Rohit, Kohli, Dhawan, Smith. These are well-recognized players. Then there are other players also who don't have that many performances but they are still there, the likes of Guptill, Munro, West Indian players. They keep playing, they don't get dropped.
"If you look at Rohit Sharma, in his first 75 matches he averaged around 37-38. He didn't come and start smashing hundreds. Everything takes time. But if you identify someone and say that he can be a good player for you then you need to trust players and give them time.
"So our fear of failure and lack of consistency is because of this. I'm not saying the blame falls on anyone specifically. Players also have to take the blame, they need to be mentally stronger but to be honest, I feel like Pakistan's players are mentally stronger than maybe anyone else.
"We don't have that much money in our domestic cricket. One person often has to run the family, fight the media and then also find a way out. While knowing that after 1-2 matches, they can be criticized and dropped from the team, but they still perform. So I think we have a lot of mentally strong cricketers.
"Regarding inconsistency, I think it's because of fear of failure. Also, there is a bit of a communication gap between the management, board, and players. When that is resolved then performances will improve. When you get performances consistently, only then you can start performing consistently. With other teams, I think this happens more often.
"Like a new cricketer needs time, new management needs time also. We haven't had so much time with the new management so far as we haven't been on many tours, but we have had some camps and it's getting better. It's important to be on the same page. Our people also put us under pressure due to being emotional which also leads to fear of failure.
"It's not like the management doesn't support us, they support a lot. In modern-day cricket, the management facilitates you and supports you but at the end of the day, it's up to you to perform.
"The one cricketer I look up to Kumar Sangakkara. I have spoken to him quite a bit and he's a very nice person. I think he's the best left-hander because I only saw Brian Lara on TV. Sangakkara's drives and way of crafting innings is something I really enjoy. I have spoken to him quite a lot and whenever I have problems, I look towards him.
"I am somewhat experienced now. Experience doesn't teach you how to do what, it teaches you how to cut down your mistakes. More than technical, you need to focus on the tactical things in international cricket.
"Babar is my best friend and a good friend and he's getting a lot of success. Initially, in Tests initially he was getting out early. He didn't change his technique but he made his mind sharper. Test cricket is the most difficult format and with experience, you learn. Babar learned and I have known him for 10 years and been playing with him. We had partnerships recently during the World Cup too. We practice together and when we make mistakes, we help each other. I ask him a lot about how he's changed himself. A person who has played 11 matches with an average of 20 and after 22 matches suddenly has an average of 40, that depends on your belief.
"I heard the same thing from Sangakkara. He told me that every day is not going to be the same.
"The players I'm playing with for Pakistan are my buddies and we're close. We cry for Pakistan too when we lose. I remember when we lost to India in the World Cup, nobody wants to get beaten by India especially when it comes to the World Cup. In a way, we cried together about that. This team has lovely guys because we are all young. We think collectively about how to win games for Pakistan, that is our only focus."
"Regarding discipline, the best example is Younis Khan. Unfortunately, I couldn't play with him, though I did share a dressing room with him at Zalmi. He was said to be very disciplined, he would sleep at 9 pm. We need to focus on these things and performances automatically improve with discipline. For inner satisfaction, discipline is necessary and after that, things fix themselves.
"It depends on an individual how he takes pressure and criticism. As a sportsman, if you don't expect criticism, that's wrong. Media has become so large, we need to accept that if we do well, we'll be acknowledged and if we do badly then we'll get criticism. This happens with all sportsmen.
"Our system is such that if you feel in 2-3 innings, you come under pressure. You have media pressure and your performances become due. But you can't do anything about the innings that are past, the failures are failures. But if I keep thinking about that, it can affect my upcoming innings. So that's in the past, you have to recover from it.
"To recover, especially on tour, you need to stay in good company. If you stay alone then you start focusing on the negatives. We eat with the team members and watch movies, sit it one room so that we stay around positive people. Gatherings are important for positive vibes. Negative people are aplenty.
"When you're not in form, that's not the first time nor will it be the last time. It will continue during my cricketing career, but it's important to take it the right way and get back to the basics.
"This is why we get money and why we serve Pakistan because we need to take the pressure. International cricket isn't as tough as the pressure. You have a lot of responsibility. People recognize you and put expectations on you and if you don't deliver, you get criticism.
"I get criticism because of my relationship with Inzamam so when on tour, I try to stay away from social media and close my accounts and give them to my manager. I started this before the World Cup. I don't want to see social media whether I am doing well or badly. When I used to do well initially, I would check social media but then I realized that it's better to stay away completely.
"No cricketer knows how long you are going to play, 5 years or 10 years. But everyone knows that the pathway is hard work and commitment, you need to make sacrifices especially for international cricket because there are many new things in terms of skills and fitness that you need to maintain.
"Before the World Cup, PCB hired a psychologist Taimoor from England. He worked with us and I rate him really highly. He understood what was going on within us, our inner fight. He worked with us for two series in the Aus and Eng series before the World Cup.
"Our assistant coach Shahid Aslam works with us one on one during these days and asks us about our thoughts etc. He tries to make us think bigger. He told me one thing, that until your goals aren't massive, there is no point. Make your goals so big that when you tell someone else, they think you are crazy.
"This is my 3rd year with the Pakistan team. I achieved things that I would never even have thought of. I had a dream to play for Pakistan, I never knew when that would happen. But I always wanted to make sure I wasn't a one-match wonder or play a few games. I want to do something that makes my country remember me.
"I look at our greats. And now Babar is scoring so heavily, I wish him luck and I hope we get more players like that as well. For that, you need to have the commitment and accept that the learning process never ends, no matter how big a player you are. My goal is to be in the top 5 in every format. Alhamdulillah, I am playing 2 formats right now.
"If you ask any cricketer, they will all say I want to play for Pakistan for a long time and become a legend but that requires a lot of hard work and effort.
"Since I came into the Pakistan team, I didn't make any specific goals for myself. I feel that when you make goals for yourself, you come under pressure. I think that when I am enjoying cricket, it goes well for me.
"We have a lot of fear of failure in our team, I personally feel according to what I've assessed. When that happens that you can't perform consistently. This comes when you fear that after 2 failures, you may not be considered for the team.
"We look at other teams who are consistent. How many players do these other teams change? Since 2010, I have seen the likes of Warner, Finch, Rohit, Kohli, Dhawan, Smith. These are well-recognized players. Then there are other players also who don't have that many performances but they are still there, the likes of Guptill, Munro, West Indian players. They keep playing, they don't get dropped.
"If you look at Rohit Sharma, in his first 75 matches he averaged around 37-38. He didn't come and start smashing hundreds. Everything takes time. But if you identify someone and say that he can be a good player for you then you need to trust players and give them time.
"So our fear of failure and lack of consistency is because of this. I'm not saying the blame falls on anyone specifically. Players also have to take the blame, they need to be mentally stronger but to be honest, I feel like Pakistan's players are mentally stronger than maybe anyone else.
"We don't have that much money in our domestic cricket. One person often has to run the family, fight the media and then also find a way out. While knowing that after 1-2 matches, they can be criticized and dropped from the team, but they still perform. So I think we have a lot of mentally strong cricketers.
"Regarding inconsistency, I think it's because of fear of failure. Also, there is a bit of a communication gap between the management, board, and players. When that is resolved then performances will improve. When you get performances consistently, only then you can start performing consistently. With other teams, I think this happens more often.
"Like a new cricketer needs time, new management needs time also. We haven't had so much time with the new management so far as we haven't been on many tours, but we have had some camps and it's getting better. It's important to be on the same page. Our people also put us under pressure due to being emotional which also leads to fear of failure.
"It's not like the management doesn't support us, they support a lot. In modern-day cricket, the management facilitates you and supports you but at the end of the day, it's up to you to perform.
"The one cricketer I look up to Kumar Sangakkara. I have spoken to him quite a bit and he's a very nice person. I think he's the best left-hander because I only saw Brian Lara on TV. Sangakkara's drives and way of crafting innings is something I really enjoy. I have spoken to him quite a lot and whenever I have problems, I look towards him.
"I am somewhat experienced now. Experience doesn't teach you how to do what, it teaches you how to cut down your mistakes. More than technical, you need to focus on the tactical things in international cricket.
"Babar is my best friend and a good friend and he's getting a lot of success. Initially, in Tests initially he was getting out early. He didn't change his technique but he made his mind sharper. Test cricket is the most difficult format and with experience, you learn. Babar learned and I have known him for 10 years and been playing with him. We had partnerships recently during the World Cup too. We practice together and when we make mistakes, we help each other. I ask him a lot about how he's changed himself. A person who has played 11 matches with an average of 20 and after 22 matches suddenly has an average of 40, that depends on your belief.
"I heard the same thing from Sangakkara. He told me that every day is not going to be the same.
"The players I'm playing with for Pakistan are my buddies and we're close. We cry for Pakistan too when we lose. I remember when we lost to India in the World Cup, nobody wants to get beaten by India especially when it comes to the World Cup. In a way, we cried together about that. This team has lovely guys because we are all young. We think collectively about how to win games for Pakistan, that is our only focus."
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