Pretty impressive talent but where is the self belief in Pakistani players?

[Titan24]

We do have some pretty good talent in ranks in all departments but most of them lack the self belief and confidence. Just dont know the reason for that

Remember the debut year of Amir? Nothing fazed that young guy, he was assured of himself and what he was doing. He didnt do extraordinary at any level until Eng tour but was reasonably consistent but that confidence, self assurance and self beleif was something glaring to the eye.

I had the same feeling when I first saw Raza Hasan, playing in the T20 world cup not at all caring about Watson or Ghamibir etc. He opened the bowling against them at such a young age with no pressure and so much slef belief.

But once they had little bit of success they stopped working hard and got into unnecessary activities.

They both havent been the same since then, they are trying hard though.

I beleive our U19, A teams and sometimes the senior team just lack lack that right bit of confidence. Most of the players take too much pressure may be, but they dont play the same way as they do in domestics. Yes the quality of opposition is different but with the same way doesnt mean that they necessary perform the same but atleast play with the same mindset and style.

That confidence I am the best and I can be the best and working hard towards is lacking. Yes PSL filters out some confident youngsters to a certain extent but still majority of talent needs that confidence booster, guidance and assurance that you are good enough.

Maybe have mental coach with each domestic team or some psychologist.

Look at Jason Roy, Bairstow, Munro etc. They surely are talented but they are sometimes even surpassing their own expectations. They go there, express themselves and continue to learn and improve. They manifest confidence, game sense and self belief and same goes with A teams of some sides.

Disappointing thing for me with some of our players is not they dont perform sometimes but they dont perform upto the potential they are capable of most of the times just bcz of having doubts in their minds.

I hope our new crop of players like Hassan, Shadab, Abbas, Faheem, Fakhar, Shinwari, , Babar, Imam learn from the history and work hard towards becoming the best then just to be satisfied with early success.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Agree wit OP. Pakistan's biggest problem is self belief.

Don't know any other team that has lost more matches from winning positions than Pakistan.

Pakistan do not have the talent or skill to be top 3 in tests or ODI yet. But they should not be no. 7 in tests.

 

[Stewie]

I disagree.. we do have the talent.. just need to polish it, bring some professionalism into the picture.. and we are there.. i feel even in this day and age we are not as professional as other teams.. raise that aspect and we will be gold.
The lack of self confidence is actually a by product of the lack of professionalism.

 

[Hasan123]

Self belief is an issue . But our domestic system doesn't hell players improve. Also lack of quality coaching is another reason.

 

[ManFan]

Look, you are asking cricketers who have come through a mediocore and incompetent FC structure to have the self-belief at the international level of someone who has been through the Sheffield Shield?

These guys have never played at home, have seen their side regress tremendously from the highs they viewed as a child, and generally seem unaware of match-intelligence or capable thinking.

For example, Yasir Shah through sheer longevity and stamina, has become one of the worlds best spinners and predominant leg-spinner in Test cricket. Yet, he needs someone like Mushtaq Ahmed or Misbah up Haq consistently feeding him ideas in his ears to have some wicket-taking confidence. And this is after 10+ years of playing FC cricket!

Truth is that with the poor infrastructure we have along with the entirely self-directed interests of the PCB, the players are left in no man’s land. They look to management and see futility in organization and goal-orientation while their poor backgrounds and lack of overall education has not prepared them for the difficulties of professional sports.

These players have punched above their weight given their upbringing. You cannot expect them to beat South Africa in South Africa or India, where the latter’s increased revenue and investment pumped into domestic leagues and foreign tutelage has leaped them ahead of us in the curve.

Sport is a world of stereotypes and the cricketing world almost more so. Pakistan is “predictably unpredictable”, South Africa “melt under pressure”, Australia are “nasty rude grinders”, etc. The conjured up myth of Pakistan Cricket is being exposed as nothing but longing for nostalgia of past players who honed their skills in *que shock and horror* a foreign domestic cricket system (a.k.a English County Cricket).

Pakistan will continue to pay the price as it has for the last fifteen years if it believes the rules of the universe cease part like the Red Sea when it comes to their cricketing fortunes. Talent without application and Ego without humility render an application of self-destruction. Which is why you so often see our players fading into obscurity after a blazing start (Asif, Sami, Jamshed, Aslam, etc) or being embroided in a lack of perception of control (player revolts, match-fixing, media leaks as old as Bismarck, drug usage, etc).

 

[Rayyman]

It's the desi culture. Most South-Asian people are timid.
Especially guys like

Actually Bangladeshis seem to be the boldest.

 

[waleed88]

Because problem is they can't chase a total at all... whether is 240 or 340..

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

I don't think it's a problem with "Self Belief" because the two example's that have been given (Amir and Raza) had success early on but faded away.

It's more a case of attitude or desire to succeed.

 

[Savak]

Self belief comes with results.