NEW DELHI: India pacer Mohammed Siraj was practicing in Australia during the 2020-21 tour when he received the devastating news of his father's death. The heartbreaking message was conveyed to him by Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri. Overwhelmed with grief, Siraj rushed to his hotel room and broke down.
Siraj had the option to return home to be with his family during this difficult time. However, he ultimately chose to stay with the team, a decision largely influenced by the unwavering support he received from Kohli, Shastri, and other senior members of the squad, who provided him with the emotional strength to endure the ordeal.
Putting the personal tragedy aside, Siraj opted to serve his nation. In the Melbourne Test, he claimed five wickets, playing a crucial role in India’s eight-wicket victory.
He followed it up with two wickets in the drawn Sydney Test before delivering a stellar performance in the fourth Test, where his five-wicket haul dismantled Australia’s batting lineup, securing India’s three-wicket victory and a historic 2-1 series win.
While Siraj was instrumental in India’s triumph, the pain of losing his father and being unable to say a final goodbye will always linger.
This is where the role of a mental conditioning coach becomes crucial — helping players navigate deeply emotional and challenging moments while maintaining focus on their performance.
With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy approaching, some players will be away from their families for extended periods.
TimesofIndia.com caught up with Jody Martins, a South African mental and conditioning coach, to discuss how he supports players during such tough times, his work with Temba Bavuma, his experience with the Kerala cricket team, his collaboration with star batter Sanju Samson, and more ...
As a mental conditioning coach, what are the core principles you focus on to help athletes deliver peak performance under pressure?This is a great question. What I have discovered over the years of exploring with athletes how they are able to deliver under pressure is that it comes down to three core things… They are all simple ideas, yet at the same time not always that easy to find and execute under pressure. The first is a robust, well developed identity. Many cricketers assign their sense of self to their batting or bowling position, or their role in the team. This often leads to problems in performance as they struggle to make sense of who they are when they do not play a very specific role.
The second is for cricketers to develop a deep understanding of how they work, how they get to be at their best and how to do that under pressure. As examples… a cricketer can know that when they are very relaxed before a performance they tend to perform better, so I help them build personal processes to become relaxed before matches. The last is to know how performance works, how it happens. To understand the simplicity of performance it’s easier to use a metaphor. Rain falls, when the conditions for rain to fall is met. Performance tends to happen quite naturally when cricketers are, as generalization, relaxed, and present focused. These three ingredients are core to what a mental performance coach does to help cricketers be at their best under pressure.
How do you approach coaching a team in terms of developing systems, processes, and a performance-driven culture? Can you share some examples from your experience with teams like Kerala?The first thing is to understand where the team is at. Working with a team that has been winning consistently is different to working with a team that is middle of the pack or right at the bottom of a log. The first thing would be to get insights into how they are busy creating their current performance. Questions like… how do they train, how do they speak? What are the qualities of their team meetings like? What beliefs do they hold about themselves, as individuals in the team and the team itself. What is their mission? …can provide key information about what the next steps for the team can be.
Once we know where the team is at, my role would be to facilitate the team to create their unique processes to level up their performance. This can include creating a clear mission that goes beyond just winning. All teams want to win, the ones with more in the game than just winning tend to find better levels of engagement and focus. Once the mission is established, supporting individuals to align their personal goals with the mission of the team. Lastly, to support each individual to be their best for the team… what that looks, sounds and feels like for them. Often that means that they show up a little more open to being themselves more freely.
You’ve worked with the Kerala Cricket Association, including senior players like Sanju Samson. How do you tailor your mental coaching techniques to fit the unique needs of cricketers at different stages in their careers?A huge part of my awareness as a mental performance coach is to meet each cricketer where they are at… some cricketers are just starting their careers while others could be in the twilight. Cricketers, as much as any other athlete, tends to seek help when things are not going well for them. So the start of any relationship with a cricketer is normally when things are not working, at some level they are struggling and not performing. Most often it is doubt and worry from poor performance that interferes with their ability to perform.