Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara has been in red-hot form during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2015, and has become an absolute menace for the opposition bowlers. His good run with the bat has helped him score four consecutive tons, making him a force to reckon with this season. Having played 130 Test Matches and 402 ODIs, Sangakkara has certainly stepped up to become one amongst the legends of the game. How does he manage it? Well, here are a few ways in which he stays mentally fit. Ask for help when you need it: The cricketing stalwart believes that achieving greatness is not a one-man effort. A firm believer int he necessity and prowess of a sports psychologist in shaping a player into a good one, he says, ‘A sports psychologist plays an important role but he doesn’t have to come in with the tag just to work on the mental deficiencies of players,’ in a statement to bcci.tv. Stay calm and do your job: In an interview with bcci.tv, Sangakara said, ‘I’ve had my run-ins with a lot of players both in and away from the subcontinent. But I have mellowed down a huge amount. Nowadays I don’t say much, just take a backseat and do my job.’ Interestingly not only does this help him stay stronger, mentally, but also helps him focus better on improving his game. Take risks: While most of us would find it difficult to take risks, it is a vital ingredient for success. This is a belief that Sangakara relies on. In an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, he said, ‘I think mental strength is about being unafraid to make mistakes, unafraid to take that little risk. It's being unafraid to accept the situation for what it is, it's being unafraid to talk about the future, to talk about fear, failure and success.'

Learn from people around you: A valuable lesson, Sangakara says that while talking to someone better than you might not be enough, simply watching and internalising how they succeed is often the answer. ‘You might talk to a great player and sometimes you might not get anything from that conversation that you can use. But if you watch them - they train on the field, train off the field, how they train at the gym - if you watch those things then you can learn a lot,’ Sangakkara told ESPN Cricinfo.

Express joy, not sorrow: One of the secrets of such great team spirit within the Sri Lankan team is that players keep the sad things about their lives to themselves, and share the good things with others. ‘We're not very expressive people when it comes to our fears. We express a lot of joy. We express various other emotions, but talking about insecurities, fears or personal issues out in the open is not something that we're very used to,’ said Sangakkara in an interview with ESPN

Cricinfo.