Rudi Webster's cricket psychology

Rudi Webster sticks out quite a bit when with the Kolkata Knight Riders. Not just because he is a good 6'4", but also because he is 73 years old. In a landscape teeming with excitable youngsters, the grand old man of mental conditioning seems out of place. But, of course, the human mind hasn't changed much over the years, nor has the definition of 'conditioning'. Webster has, though, and can't handle flying across India every other day during the IPL.

Though Webster will smile and underplay his role, legend has it that he was having a drink with Clive Lloyd when the two of them shook on the agreement that the West Indies would never play a Test again without four fast bowlers. Lloyd was the captain of the team, and Webster its manager. "I helped, sure," Webster says. "But never underestimate Clive's captaincy skills. He is very underrated and everyone thinks he succeeded because he had great players. I don't know whether he did it knowingly, but he focused on the things that research shows great leaders focus on. He brought discipline into the team, rid the team of the insularity and local prejudices that have always plagued West Indies cricket, and, most importantly, injected self-belief in his players. Much like Frank Worrell before him."

Back in 2007, I spent a few memorable hours with Webster at his lovely house overlooking the sea in Grenada. He wasn't busy, recuperating as he was from a spinal injury that had paralysed him waist downwards. We talked endlessly. The Knight Riders gig was five years away, but Kolkata did come up in the discussion, courtesy, obviously, Sourav Ganguly. "Sourav has achieved exactly what Clive did. Most sports teams have the same challenges. In fact, it is much tougher in India, because you have got so much cultural diversity there. More challenging than in West Indies," Webster told me then.

A lot has changed since. Cricket has become shorter and cricketers have become richer, at least in India. What exactly is he doing with the boys then; it can't be like handling the Calypso Kings of the 1970s, surely? Of course, human beings haven't changed, as Webster keeps reminding me. "I have been working mainly with the local players," Webster says. "The superstars have their act worked out. I have been focussing more on the local players, who might be a bit overwhelmed in the presence of the superstars." Despite the huge language gap? "Yeah, I need to go slowly and use the right words and gestures and body language."

As it happens, Webster himself probably needed a little mental conditioning too. After all, the Twenty20 format itself is a new beast. Webster doesn't agree. Cricket is the same and cricketers are the same, he insists. No, it's not, I argue. Maybe because I am about half his age, Webster is indulgent. Yes, he is "trying to understand that the culture of the players is different" from what he was used to. He'll concede the point only this far:
"Remember that it's still cricket, except that it's in a condensed form and everything happens very quickly. At times, you don't get time to recover if you've done something wrong. Concentration is the key, as is managing pressure. So whatever you see in a Test match is magnified in the IPL. That's all."

Interestingly, Webster did spend some time in India, or at least with the Indian team, back in 2006, when Greg Chappell, then coach, added him to his list of support staff. He couldn't spend too much time here though, because of his illness. As the regime changed, so did the staff. Gary Kirsten brought Paddy Upton with him. Webster acknowledges that "Upton has had tremendous success, and I suspect he focuses on the same performance factors as I do". "My book [Think like a Champion] is going to be published soon, and I have interviewed some of the greatest cricketers for it to understand their recipes for success. Believe me, most of them say identical things, except for a few variations."

In the past, Indian cricketers, as well as sections of the Indian media, have been sceptical about the concept of mental conditioning. Just go out and play, some of us would say, forget this sports psychology nonsense. But Webster has at least one ardent fan in the Kolkata IPL team - Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the Bengal allrounder. Before the tournament, he told Wisden India, "I am still hungry for success, and working with Rudi is going to improve me a great deal. He is a legend, and I am looking forward to working with him." Midway through the tournament, having spent many hours in Webster's company, Shukla said, "You can talk about all your problems with him without a worry. He has so many years of experience that he has solutions for everything you need. It's a matter of listening carefully to him and focussing on the right things."

Webster, however, explains his method slightly differently: "The key is to know when not to interfere. The temptation for people in my profession is to go out there and change too many things. I must know when to step back. Occasionally, you need to listen to the players. You need to listen with a sympathetic ear, and often the player finds the solution to his problem himself. At times, you need to guide him too. Sometimes you need to show him what to do. If they didn't have good mental skills to start with, they wouldn't be playing at this level. When you're under pressure, your mind wanders. The key is to keep the concentration in the present and in the moment."

Whether because of Webster or otherwise, Shukla has been one of the standout players for the Knight Riders this season. Maybe he had it in him all along, but wasn't able to express himself.

Finally, the question critics have posed in connection with the IPL from the very first season: is the lure of easy money leading young cricketers astray? Webster has a rather simple answer: "Yes, the salaries are good. But I tell youngsters that they should think of becoming better players. If they become good international players, they will earn even more. That becomes a driving force."

Whether mental conditioning really works or not is a moot question, especially when the 'instructions' are coming from someone with a very different background, when the language is English, and when the boys being spoken to may or may not be educated enough to grasp the nuances. But there's something to be said about spending time with a man who was an integral part of probably the greatest cricket team of all time, listening to him and absorbing what he says. If nothing else, it's great cricket education.