Sports psychologist Webster says Windies have been unable to come out of time warp

Dubai, May 1(ANI): Legendary sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster, who is working as Kolkata Knight Ryders as mental skills coach this season, is not convinced that the West Indies has been able to come out of the time warp.

"There has been enough talent to be competitive, but the basic problem is people who are running the game there has got left behind. In the Asian region, there is lot more motivation for a youngster to take to the game and hence they have made so much progress," The Gulf News quoted him, as saying.

"If you look at their [West Indies'] pattern of play over the last 10 to 15 years, you will see that they have started to fancy themselves as losers because of a lack of self-belief. Hence, they have often ended up losing matches from winning positions," he added.

Dr Webster said that the dynamism of the Twenty20 format of cricket calls for tremendous self-belief for a player to perform well.

"Unlike the Test match or one-dayers, there is no scope for a team to recover even if there is a single bad over. Hence, the pressure level for a performer in a time span of three hours is really high," he added.

On being asked how different it had been for him to motivate cricketers for their national teams vis-a-vis the club outfits, as now in the Indian Premier League, he feels there is no difference in his approach.

"There is no difference between the two situations as long as you perceive the team under you as a group of people fighting the same battle," he said, adding that the philosophy that drives people in war is ultimately about fighting "for the bloke next to me".

He said he was fascinated to meet Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"At one point, he says empty the mind of the trash and you will be amazed to see what you find there — this had been often the essence of the pep talk that I have given to some of the world-class performers," Dr Webster said. (ANI)