Mind games are intriguing and extremely effective. In sport, the Brits were past masters and effectively passed on the baton to their cousins the Australians.
It would go like this:
Prior to a cricketing tour to India, the British press, would start talking about, the poor hygiene in India, the lack of cricketing infrastructure, the poverty and so on. This would be followed by, comments that Indians could not play fast bowling and so on. The effect of this would be that the Indian cricketers, uncoached in this area would be on the defensive, even before the first ball was bowled.The battle was lost before it began! An old colonial stunt................
Dale Steyn, the South African quick, was at it the other day, just before, the Indians start their tour of SA. He said the Indians would have a problem, scoring against the South African fast bowlers. I was not surprised.
What surprised me was the Indian response...............because generally we absorb this nonsense. This time, the riposte came from 'The Wall', Rahul Dravid. He said, that the Indians had the necessary fire power, to return the complements and the Africans had better watch out.
Now it is intriguing that this response came from Dravid, because he is the quiet types. The silent types.He is also know the world over, as the 'thinker' and the strategist of the Indian team.When he speaks the opposition listens.In Dravid speaking, a few things have been communicated very clearly:
1. Stop the BS and walk your talk on the field.
2. Dale Steyn & Dravid are team mates for RCB in the IPL, even so............its war now.
Mind games while undesirable are part of the game and I'm glad we have learnt to play them, with finesse!
