Close your eyes. Now, whatever you do, don’t think of a pink elephant.
This instruction, over the years, has always ended in the same way. The mind visualises a pink elephant that is almost impossible to get out of your head.
This is described as the process in which attempting to avoid thinking a specific thought makes it persistent and intrusive. It’s the ironic process theory or thought suppression at work.
And Suryakumar Yadav’s India are getting a realtime experiential learning lesson in the UAE on this very subject. In the hotel that the team is staying at, they are wished well for their match against Pakistan, by well-meaning staff, fellow guests and strangers at the breakfast buffet line.
The coaches are coming together as one — and Gautam Gambhir has first-hand experience of what it can be like to play Pakistan — to tell the players that each one of them must find a way to treat this simply as a game of cricket. There are reminders to stick to processes and fall back on muscle memory.
The fans, now this is a tricky one. In the past, the unbearable pressure that Indian cricketers had to deal with was linear: don’t lose against Pakistan. When that happened, in the not-so-distant past, cars were pelted with stones and name boards on houses blackened, but today the backlash is instantaneous in the form of online mobs.
Win against Pakistan, especially in a major tournament, and everything else was forgiven. If you were the player who made it happen, your life from then on was set. You had a story that you could live off for a long time to come.
But, now, in 2025, at the Asia Cup, the players are hearing something quite different. Not about victory and defeat, which they understand well and have a finely honed instinct for through years of hardened sporting competition. Instead, sections of India’s fans are raising their voices against India’s cricketers, simply for playing against Pakistan.
This decision is well above their pay grade, and even with sentiment swelling in one direction, being part of a team environment demands accepting the majority decision and going with the flow, even if a particular player feels strongly and differently within.
This will be a different kind of pressure, and the best person to help deal with it is Surya. There’s a whimsical element to his thinking, even when he is deadly serious. Surya is sharp and as desperate for success as the next guy, but he can still take extreme risks when at the crease, and laugh with genuine irony when a captaincy move does not pay off.
All Surya can do is pull his players back into thinking about something much more immediate and bite-sized, something they can consume and process. All the support staff need to do is ensure the team is physically at its sharpest when the time comes to take the field.
To that end, India have it relatively easy in this tournament. They crushed the United Arab Emirates and after the Pakistan clash India take on Oman, who are likely to suffer from stage fright similar to what UAE experienced. Progress to the next round is all but guaranteed.
Which means India can spend their time worrying about where best Sanju Samson may slot in. Does he come in at No. 3 or does he float lower down the order, settling himself up to play shorter but more impactful innings.
India can spend their time thinking about whether the threespinner attack is the one they want to consistently deploy. This team does not like to leave runs on the table and, to that end, prefers to pack the batting or have cover in the form of all-rounders.
Pakistan are in a similar position, although the expectation on them to win is not quite in the same league. This team, under Salman Agha, is finding its shape and form, and does not have the same kind of all-round depth or power hitting as the Indians. To that end, they have less to lose.
A match of this kind is also an excellent laboratory for coaches. From the build-up to the actual game to the aftermath, the way players react to the occasion, the rhetoric, the outside noise, to the extra elements, real and perceived, will tell the coaches all they need to know about a player’s temperament.
Runs will be scored and wickets taken, tears will be shed and hopefully no blood will be spilt. And, it’s not hard to predict which team will come out on top: it’s the one that hasn’t seen the pink elephant..
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
This instruction, over the years, has always ended in the same way. The mind visualises a pink elephant that is almost impossible to get out of your head.
This is described as the process in which attempting to avoid thinking a specific thought makes it persistent and intrusive. It’s the ironic process theory or thought suppression at work.
And Suryakumar Yadav’s India are getting a realtime experiential learning lesson in the UAE on this very subject. In the hotel that the team is staying at, they are wished well for their match against Pakistan, by well-meaning staff, fellow guests and strangers at the breakfast buffet line.
The coaches are coming together as one — and Gautam Gambhir has first-hand experience of what it can be like to play Pakistan — to tell the players that each one of them must find a way to treat this simply as a game of cricket. There are reminders to stick to processes and fall back on muscle memory.
The fans, now this is a tricky one. In the past, the unbearable pressure that Indian cricketers had to deal with was linear: don’t lose against Pakistan. When that happened, in the not-so-distant past, cars were pelted with stones and name boards on houses blackened, but today the backlash is instantaneous in the form of online mobs.
Win against Pakistan, especially in a major tournament, and everything else was forgiven. If you were the player who made it happen, your life from then on was set. You had a story that you could live off for a long time to come.
But, now, in 2025, at the Asia Cup, the players are hearing something quite different. Not about victory and defeat, which they understand well and have a finely honed instinct for through years of hardened sporting competition. Instead, sections of India’s fans are raising their voices against India’s cricketers, simply for playing against Pakistan.
This decision is well above their pay grade, and even with sentiment swelling in one direction, being part of a team environment demands accepting the majority decision and going with the flow, even if a particular player feels strongly and differently within.
This will be a different kind of pressure, and the best person to help deal with it is Surya. There’s a whimsical element to his thinking, even when he is deadly serious. Surya is sharp and as desperate for success as the next guy, but he can still take extreme risks when at the crease, and laugh with genuine irony when a captaincy move does not pay off.
All Surya can do is pull his players back into thinking about something much more immediate and bite-sized, something they can consume and process. All the support staff need to do is ensure the team is physically at its sharpest when the time comes to take the field.
To that end, India have it relatively easy in this tournament. They crushed the United Arab Emirates and after the Pakistan clash India take on Oman, who are likely to suffer from stage fright similar to what UAE experienced. Progress to the next round is all but guaranteed.
Which means India can spend their time worrying about where best Sanju Samson may slot in. Does he come in at No. 3 or does he float lower down the order, settling himself up to play shorter but more impactful innings.
India can spend their time thinking about whether the threespinner attack is the one they want to consistently deploy. This team does not like to leave runs on the table and, to that end, prefers to pack the batting or have cover in the form of all-rounders.
Pakistan are in a similar position, although the expectation on them to win is not quite in the same league. This team, under Salman Agha, is finding its shape and form, and does not have the same kind of all-round depth or power hitting as the Indians. To that end, they have less to lose.
A match of this kind is also an excellent laboratory for coaches. From the build-up to the actual game to the aftermath, the way players react to the occasion, the rhetoric, the outside noise, to the extra elements, real and perceived, will tell the coaches all they need to know about a player’s temperament.
Runs will be scored and wickets taken, tears will be shed and hopefully no blood will be spilt. And, it’s not hard to predict which team will come out on top: it’s the one that hasn’t seen the pink elephant..
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
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