Adrian McInman: “You also know that the more mentally tough they were, the better they would have handled their situations”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
I asked Cricket Psychologist Adrian McInman to sum up what he told me about “pressure,” “stress,” perception, and mental toughness in the first four interviews for this 5-article series using the Khushdil Shah fan altercation as an example.
Adrian emphasised that a character assassination of Khushdil should be avoided and put forth the notion that had the 30-year-old been trained in mental toughness, he would have handled the situation a lot differently.
Taking a deeper look into the altercation, Adrian said: “Khushdil’s altercation has similarities with the match-fixing and cocaine usage Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor got into in India a few years ago. They would probably say they were feeling ‘stressed’ – Brendan due to financial concerns and Khushdil due to the team’s poor performances. However, you now know it was not ‘stress’ but a perception that they felt out of control and believed things would worsen. You also know that the more mentally tough they were, the better they would have handled their situations.”
Next, I asked Adrian about the current troubles Pakistan’s men’s team faces. He immediately spotted a few key areas of improvement, notably the lack of training when it comes to enhancing players’ mental fortitude.
Adrian noted: “The team’s recent results suggest the squad is not training mentally effectively and consistently. If the squad learnt powerful psychological information based on research and practical and time-efficient mental skills techniques (e.g., 1 second, 60 seconds, 5 minutes), their performances would improve because they would handle both match day and non-cricket situations more effectively.
“Many people associated with the team are saying the right things. For example, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has admitted: ‘We have to focus on our intent and approach.’ Likewise, Shan Masood said, ‘We should not point fingers at any individuals, or on the institution. If we are to win a Test match, we have to find ways, it is as simple as that’.
“However, just because some are saying the right things, Mohammad Rizwan’s comment reveals the need for help: ‘We made the same mistake that we have been making in the past with four matches. Maybe they [India] were more brave than us’.”
In addition to mental toughness, Adrian was quick to highlight a lack of direction, which leads to inconsistency.
He said: “Pakistan has some amazing cricketers. However, the team appears to lack direction – which leads to inconsistency. Some factors causing this may appear out of the cricketer’s control. However, regardless of the social and political situation a cricketer finds themselves in, their thinking in the previous seven days and on match day has a massive impact on their likelihood of success.
“Cricketers are advised to do something basic: play every ball on its merits. Those with the most effective thinking can do this the best. In 2025, the cricketers with the best thinking train their thinking.”
Adrian McInman
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@happierhorizons-adrianmcin179
Website: https://phenomenalperformances.com