Mind over natter

Prem Panicker

At 1 pm on Wednesday, the curtain came down on the coaching camp at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

14 Indian cricketers, presumably honed during the nine day camp to a peak of physical, and match, fitness, left Bangalore to spend a couple of days at their respective homes before flying toColombo to take part in the Asia Cup.

But what about their minds? In other words, whatever happened to Dr Jayant Paraki, the specialist in holistic medicine who, to the blareof media trumpets, took over the task of doing for the players' minds what physical trainer Tej Krishan Kaul was drafted to do for their bodies?

Surprise, surprise - that particular initiative lasted exactly 24 hours. "Haan, kissi ne aake ek bhashan diya, humko," is Ajay Jadeja's assessment of the good doctor's services. Services, it must be added, that were terminated after just one day's trial, by no less than Indian coach Madan Lal.

"You know, this mental fitness business, you can't do that by simply coming for a nine-day camp and making speeches to the boys," said Madan, obviously unimpressed. "A permanent sports psychologist is one thing, but how can a doctor understand the mentalities of so many different players in such a short time and then decide how to motivate them? That kind of thing can cause more harm than good."

Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary C Nagaraj, at whose initiative Paraki was drafted into the camp, is tight-lipped about the whole thing. "I thought it might help so I called him here. If the team management does not think so then what can I say? I have no comments," says Nagaraj.

Paraki himself is rather sanguine about the whole thing. "The one day I was there, I did speak to the boys in general terms, indicated problem areas in the mind that are common for all sportsmen, suggested ways of coping. And that was that."

Does he think it did any good?

"In one day? No," comes the crisp answer.

What about reports that four players had sought personal appointments? "Well, a few players did tell me they wanted to discuss the thing in more detail with me, so I gave them time. But it was just generalconversation with them, it is not like I prescribed anything specific... it takes time to understand the psyche of each individual, and it would be irresponsible for me to prescribe based on one individual sitting of about an hour."

One thing Dr Paraki is sure about, is that a sportspsychologist is a must for all top level sportsmen and teams. But is he one? His letterhead says 'specialist in holistic medicine'...

"Yes, that is right, I specialise in mind and body medicine and my wife is a qualified clinical psychologist, we work together."

Not a sports psychologist? "No," Paraki says. "The point is that each individual has personal problems, and these in turn impact on his performance. It is this that has to be addressed, and for that you need a specialist in clinical psychology."

Dr Paraki's involvement in cricket does not, however, end with hisone-day bhaashan to the team. "Mr Nagaraj and I are working out an arrangement where I and my wife will be available, on a full-time basis, to the KSCA to help the local players."

"Yes, some discussions are on," agrees Nagaraj. "We would like to use the services of a psychologist for the benefit of our Ranji team, and also any other sportsmen in the state who wish to avail of such a facility."

And as and when the modalities are worked out, says Nagaraj, Karnataka will become the first state in the country to make mind-medicine an integral part of cricket. "The next season begins inAugust, and by then all arrangements will be in place," says Nagaraj.

Meanwhile, memory flashes back to BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur. Who, almost a year earlier, said when taking over the toppost in India's cricketing administration that right up top in his agenda was the appointment of a sports psychologist for the Indian cricket team.

Anyone recall hearing anything further about that?