5 pre-match rituals of great cricketers

Only the finest cricketers that a nation produces eventually make the step up to the national team and as such, most of those cricketers are gifted. Even so, plenty of them have their set of superstitions and pre-match rituals that allow them to get 'in the zone' when the actual match starts.

One would expect great cricketers to be quite unwilling to perform specific pre-match rituals that might border on superstition but many of the top cricketers of the present and the past have had their quirky rituals.

This article looks at some of the pre-match rituals of cricketers from the past and present and how it allowed them to perform better, despite being rather non-cricketing in nature.

#5 Rohit Sharma

When you watch Rohit Sharma bat, his elegant style and unhurried nature would make you feel that he is not someone who is overtly bogged down by pre-match rituals. However, contrary to what many may believe, Rohit does indeed have pre-match rituals and during a question and answer session that was broadcast on YouTube, the player opened up about his routines ahead of a game.

On matchday morning, Rohit ensures that he starts the day with a cup of coffee, but the most important ritual for him is to call his wife before the team meeting or just before the game. He also revealed that his wife is also superstitious. Perhaps Rohit believes that his better half would also be less nervous if he performs the ritual ahead of every game.

#4 Steve Smith

Steve Smith has many quirks

Australian captain Steve Smith may have entered the national team as a leg-spinner but over the years, he has become his side's premier batsman across formats and is currently ranked number 1 in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen.

Smith too has his own share of pre-match rituals that he has performed throughout his life as a cricketer and those little quirks have probably helped him when he has gone out to bat against some of the best bowlers in the world.

In an interview with Australian GQ, Smith spoke about his pre-match rituals and what helps him get 'in the zone' before a game. When asked about his pre-match rituals, he replied, “Everyone has their own pre-game ritual, but I like to get to the ground early and have a good hit in the nets before play starts, to get a feel for the conditions. We then have our on-field warm-ups and get ourselves mentally prepared for the day ahead.”

#3 Rahul Dravid

Dravid was not above a few pre-match rituals of his own

Indian batting legend Rahul Dravid was not someone you would really associate with 'rituals' of any sort. However, Dravid was not above a few pre-match rituals of his own and former Indian cricketer and team-mate of the great man revealed a few of those in an article he wrote a few years ago.

For Dravid, the ritual was rather mundane and he tried to act as normal as he could. He usually enjoyed a hearty breakfast and contrary to other cricketers' habits, he actually read the papers before the day's play. However, Dravid did surprise everybody by going to watch a movie ahead of the final day's play at Adelaide in 2003. He played a monumental knock the next day and won India the Test.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar's rituals helped him become one of the greatest ever batsmen

Arguably the greatest batsman since Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar might have made the game look easy, but for all his immense gifts as a batsman across format, he also had his own set of pre-match rituals that helped him with his game.

Ahead of big games, he often went weeks without sleeping at night and would continuously try to work out ways to handle each and every bowler in the opposition. He tried to visualise his innings as well and hence when he played the actual game, Tendulkar was often playing from memory.

As he himself said about his pre-match rituals once, "Pre-match, I would tick all the boxes, and if I had done all those things, I could stand in front of the mirror and say, 'Yes, I have prepared myself well.'”

#1 Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden was one of the most intimidating batsmen of his era

Former Australian great Matthew Hayden was probably one of the most intimidating batsmen in modern cricket history due to the way in which he bullied the best bowlers in the world. However, behind his batting lay immense powers of concentration, power, technique, self-belief and a pre-match ritual that he continued to engage in even in his final days as a cricketer.

Hayden used to sit in the middle of the pitch ahead of the match and visualise everything. He liked to be left alone and that little ritual allowed him to get in the zone before the game. As he himself said in an interview, “...sitting down in an environment which was comfortable and going through the kind of expectations I had in store for me in the week's period of the Test or the one-dayers, getting used to the conditions, understanding where the breeze is coming from, what the bowler's arms were going to look like, so that there were no surprises on the day...”