Sachin on Power of Mind

THE POWER OF THE MIND

"And then, suddenly, it was all happening. The centuries in my Ranji, Duleep
and Irani debuts took me to Pakistan and a whole different world. Pakistan
was a unique experience, one in retrospect, I was too young to fully fathom
at 16. I was just so excited to be part of the Indian team. But even then,
cricket-wise, I was very focussed on being there, knowing that once I was
there, I had to stay there. This is where my years of preparation and early
training in visualisation, a concept introduced to me by my brother, helped
infinitely. It wasn't something that I was formally trained or told about
specifically but even during school games, I used to prepare by letting my
imagination take over. I would imagine situations, plan out things, try and
get into the opposition's head. Somewhere, in those early years, I had
begun training my subconscious mind. I've always believed in the power of
the mind, it goes way beyond imagination, in its ability to push itself
beyond what you might think is its limit, in its ability to readjust,
realign and refocus. It is something incredible, the mind, and if you
focus, there is no limit to one's imagination and what the mind can
accomplish. I've tried to bring that power of the mind to my game. For
instance, when I walk into the middle, it is my fourth or fifth walk, as I
have already done so several times in my head. It gives one an edge"