interview of mahendra singh dhoni
Answers
Can you share your secret for staying cool under pressure?
Being prepared will always keep you cool. Whether you are a student or a pro athlete you have to get into the zone. The zone is a state of performing with zero friction. Practice and preparation will always help you perfect your skills and get you in the zone. If your skills go up, stress goes down. Psychologists say that 10,000 hours of practice will always get you to your goal! There's this scene in the movie where my dad lets me go off to play a cricket tournament just before my exam. I still remember what he said to me: "If you've studied and worked throughout the year, then there's no problem if you go off to play today. If you haven't studied every day then one day is not going to make a difference."
My dad used to wake me up at dawn every day to study for two hours throughout my years at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir because my evenings were crowded with football and cricket practice. Being regular and deliberate with your preparations keeps the pressure away at crunch time.
Answer:
FF: What do you think of your captaincy in overseas Test defeats?
MSD: Look at the positive side. I’m not far away from the losses record of Brian Lara and Stephen Fleming.
FF: What are your thoughts about Virat Kohli’s form?
MSD: can only talk about his form on the field…
FF: ….I’m asking you about his form on the cricketing field.
MSD: Look, you want your top batsman to score runs, but Virat has had some problems with the offside. He used to commit offside errors even in football matches in the practice session. Actually, Virat is practicing hard within minutes of getting back into the dressing room. Last evening, I saw him score century in Cricket 2014 on his Playstation. I can assure you that things are looking good. It’s just a matter of time he gets back among the runs.
FF: Has BCCI N Srinivasan spoken to you regarding this loss and the plan ahead?
MSD: Firstly, he assured me that this loss will not affect my post as vice-president in India Cements. When you have the powers backing you in such a way, it’s a nice feeling. Srini mama understands that the boys had prepared hard all through the month of April and May in UAE and in India. I told him we’ll compensate in our next series. Srini mama is a legend. He is now the ICC chairman and he knows how to handle the team. He knew we could be in trouble against England and thus had planned on a home series against West Indies. What foresight!
FF: Do you think playing five Tests in 42 days affected the fitness?
MS: No, not at all. In fact our boys had practiced hard by playing the IPL for two months. Playing for 25 days 21 days was no big challenge compared to flying every alternate day all over India.............
FF: What are your immediate plans?
MSD: I think the boys have got enough experience now. It is time for us to focus on more important things like Champions League T20. But the big series will be West Indies. Shikhar [Dhawan], Kohli, Pujara, everyone can get back among the runs. Basically, we are following Modi’s mantra Make in India’. In fact, the BCCI also sent us a letter by re-editing Modi’s speech. It had points like If you want to play T20, come to India; If you want to see Rohit Sharma score runs, come to in India, if you want to see India win Tests by innings, come to India.’ This is in fact going to be our motto. Mark my words, all will be well when we take on West Indies at home.