Thaindian News

Karachi, Jan 12(ANI): Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has said that tactical errors result in defeat more often than technical errors and tactical skills of players are important for admirable performances in cricket.

“We often focus our energies and efforts on physical training and technical skills, but, at the same time, negligent in developing tactical and mental skills. Reason for this is that either we have not yet realized the importance of tactical skills in winning matches, or we do not know how to help an athlete develop these critical skill sets,” Latif wrote in an article for Pakpassion.com.

“It means that coach will need to either prioritize on time (how much is spent on technical problems and how much on tactical issues) or increase his overall coaching time,” he added.

Latif said that players can improve their tactical skills by improving their ability to read the situation, decision-making and execution ability. “Knowledge can be achieved from experience; during various match scenarios and being self critical. It can also be achieved especially in modern times by learning from others. Recent examples include how England recently saved two test matches and how the Aussies won against Pakistan in Sydney despite a deficit of 206 runs after the first innings,” Latif said. “One can easily get videos of these games and analyze at close quarters how the players played and reacted to different situations; and dissect the thoughts of various experts and commentators on the game. We have advantage now-a-days that these videos are readily available and we can spend time in the laboratory (cricket library) to study and learn, and then transfer the knowledge to players,” he added. (ANI)