I have heard some BS like… Form is temporary, Class is permanent etc etc.
But I wonder what makes a player to be “IN FORM” and then be “OUT OF FORM”. And how exactly an “OUT OF FORM” player gets back into “IN FORM” and vice-versa.
What makes a player like Tendulkar hit McGrath straight down the ground for a SIX when “IN FORM” and inexplicably chase an innocuous wide delivery from Anderson into the gloves of the wicket-keeper when “OUT OF FORM”.
Or does it have to do with the position of the planets in the player’s horoscopes ??
But then it looks like quite a few batting greats are currently OUT-OF-FORM :
Tendulkar, Lara, Inzimam…
Also, why are there some players who generally seem to be unaffected by the “FORM” business : Dravid, Ponting, Fleming, Flintoff etc…
And then there is another class of players who went OUT-OF-FORM and never got back INTO FORM e.g. Azharuddin, Manjrekar, Ganguly among the Indian Players…
And finally, why doesn’t FORM affect bowlers to the same extent as it does to batsmen.
So, any guppie IN FORM to answer the above questions ??
Re: Is there such a thing as being "OUT OF FORM" ?
You did not have to post 3 times to prove that you are IN FORM.
Talking of Sehwag, he is another player on whom the word FORM does not apply.
He could score 0 in 2 matches and then a double century in the 3rd.
However, now that the bowlers have figured out his vulnerability to short rising deliveries outside off, you could say he has gone OUT-OF-FORM.
Re: Is there such a thing as being "OUT OF FORM" ?
There are times when a player's hand-eye coordination deteriorates for short time or poor judgement takes over for sometime. When a "class" player like Inzamam, Tendulkar or Lara gets out of form, all he needs is an inning where he can "focus" and score a good knock to bring back his confidence in his 'hand-eye coordination' or his 'judgement'.
For players like Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi, may be Sehwag its not about "form", its more about controlling themselves (against their weaknesses), containt the adrenaline rush etc.
Re: Is there such a thing as being "OUT OF FORM" ?
It is just that when you keep playing for a long time u seem to forget the basic things u used to do when u got the runs in the first place...
Neone who has played cricket for a bit will agree with me.....It cud be anything like a first movement u do or the shuffle or ure feet movement also that u dont make after a period...
Some players figure these things out quickly and some dont...thts why some people never return back from the "Out of form" while some return "Back to form" pretty quickly...
Other aspects tht cud be a reason is prbbly becoz of age ure hand eye co-ordination speed decreases causing u too not be able to play the shots u were so adept at when u were younger...(Hasnt happened to me yet ;)..long time to go)
Re: Is there such a thing as being "OUT OF FORM" ?
^Based on your logic...one would expect this in-form/out-of-form concept to be there in other sports also...let's say Baseball, Tennis, Soccer etc... but you do not hear that "Andre Agassi is not in form these days". People will just say that Agassi is over the hill or something as direct as that. So why is it that in cricket we have this euphemism of "out-of-form" to explain a player's poor performance....as if to suggest that if the player is persisted with...he will one day miraculously get back into form.
Re: Is there such a thing as being "OUT OF FORM" ?
You are just here to argue are you....haha..nahh juss kiddin
NEways I think I did hear the term form being applied atleast in tennis if not any other game....and it was in rleevance to ure own example of Mr. Agassi....he apparently had not played well for quite a few games and our very own Vijay Amritraj described it as him being out of form....But Agassi did sort out his game(Probably the way he served/played his forehand/backhand/topspin) and made quite a comeback....
In another case I remember Thomas Muster.... who was almost invincible for a certain period of time(won a few French opens on the trot) and then completely lost it....never heard of him again...(Went out of FORM I guess)
So I think the term "Out of Form" does apply in a certain sense to other games too but not as much as it does in cricket....Cud be because cricket has more intricacies involved or some completely other reason....But 'FORM' has a DEFINITE implication in cricket...
Re: Is there such a thing as being "OUT OF FORM" ?
The margin of error for batsmen is small as compared to bowlers.
Lets suppose a batsman is going through bad patch. A single delivery can decide his fate. Even if not the bad patch, but if he is struggling due to the condidtions, such as our batsman often when they arrive in Australia, again one good delivery will finish his role for that day.
Bowlers, even if they are struggling needs actually one good delivery to get their confidence back and to bowl that one good delivery they have plenty of overs. That doesn't mean that bowler will never look out of touch. But it is just that they have more chances as compared to batsmen.
And similarily Agassi also have atleast 3 sets, and not just one game, to come back in the match:D
