Adrian McInman on Mohammad Rizwan: “If I trained Mohammad, I would probably sit down with him and simply ask him: ‘What is pressure?’ If I gave him enough time, he’d probably say, ‘I don’t know. I can’t define it'”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
After the 2025 Champions Trophy match against India, Pakistan ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan said: “Our middle order maybe couldn’t take the pressure.”
I asked Cricket Psychologist Adrian McInman, who has worked with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and the Zimbabwe national cricket teams, what he thought of that comment.
Adrian said: “There’s a good chance that ‘pressure’ was exactly what the players were thinking about. When I was working with the Saint Lucia Cricket Association, I had to give a presentation to some cricket commentators. The first thing I wanted to address was that exact word ‘pressure’, because it’s a nonsense word that commentators say over and over, but can’t define.”
Reverting back to the comments made by Rizwan, Adrian acknowledged that the 32-year-old would likely give a similar answer if questioned how to define the very notion of pressure.
“If I trained Mohammad, I would probably sit down with him and simply ask him: ‘What is pressure?’” he said.
“If I gave him enough time, he’d probably say, ‘I don’t know. I can’t define it.’
“Mohammad is talking about a perception – a perception that the demands on the middle order appeared large. We have all experienced this. Often we worry unnecessarily about things even when we can handle them.
“In subsequent sessions, I would say to Mohammad, ‘If it’s just a perception, then your middle order can change their perception.’ When they’re ready to change their thinking, I’d train them to change their perceptions.”
Adrian emphasised that changing perception isn’t a quick fix as it requires strenuous training. To further illustrate his point, he shared his experiences of working with the Afghanistan team and recalled the benefits of teaching the players to view ‘pressure’ situations as “fantastic opportunities” to make their presence felt.
“Phenomenal thinking isn’t created with only one day’s training. The men need CONSISTENT mental skills training, especially around matches. I take my hat off to the courageous Interim Coach of the Afghanistan national men’s team, Andy Moles. He got me to train the national men’s team in Abu Dhabi and Bangladesh around match time. If we did that with the Pakistan team, they could stop viewing situations as ‘pressure’ and instead see them as fantastic opportunities.”
Adrian McInman
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@happierhorizons-adrianmcin179
Website: https://phenomenalperformances.com