COMEBACK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN A SETBACK

 

 

 

COMEBACK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN A SETBACK

                     

 

                      Cricket is one of the most loved sports in the world and apart from being an incredible game, it is also the perfect metaphor for our day to day lives. In fact, it is more than a game and is a microcosm of life as it teaches us lessons that help us prepare for life’s challenges. A recently played match between the two arch rivals showcased this very fact and each instance in a match, one way or the other, had a close correlation with various ups and downs of life. Not only the instances, but the come-back by various top players and the grit with which they displayed their talent had lots of learnings for our life.

The match started with a dream spell by Indian pace bowlers sending the in-form batters of opposite team to pavilion at an earliest. Despite this early shock, the opposite team bounced back and put a comfortable score on board, illustrating the fact that only good start isn’t enough. To have a perfect ending we need to be consistent and persistent. 

Similarly, Indian early batting order also struggled and the openers got out in a fashion that looked like a mirror image of the                             way they got out year back. The learning remains that we need to shun our past memories, unburden ourselves of such remembrances and start afresh. As every game is different and has new challenges associated with it, we need to take a pause, unload ourselves of the haunting past memories as soon as possible and face every challenge with fresh mind.

                             The highlight of the match and the life lessons to be learnt therefrom was a masterly innings by king of cricket and his match winning partnership with Gujarat titans captain. The way king remained firm on one side while watching the fall of wickets like a stack of cards on other side portrays the fact that amidst the chaos, holding your nerves can be the game changer. Reviewing the situation time and again, discussing it with your colleagues, setting short term goals, moving forward step by step, planning it rightly, waiting for right opportunity to strike  and more importantly putting every possible effort to execute such plans is the key to success and achievement of long term goal. The way they kept on building their partnership, strategized the pattern of batting on an over to over basis and waited for the right moment to hit across showcased that every success needs planning and execution. All this is possible when you believe in yourself, play your game and do not lose hope till end.   

                            Being a run making machine and having played such crucial knocks in the past too, it was never an unexpected winning performance. But the way he was struggling over the past few months, many people were questioning his form and the experts in commentary box passed judgement that he will never come back. The way he remained calm and composed off field, dint hit back verbally to the critics, waited for the right and crucial innings to silence his critics speaks volumes about the way how life needs to be lived. It is not always necessary to indulge in verbal argument with the critics and waste both time and energy in that process. Rather it is better to focus upon yourself and try to silent those critical voices by sheer display of talent for which you were being criticised.

                             In the post-match session also, wherein the players were allowed to vent out their feelings, there were many takeaway messages that one way or other can have influence upon our lives. As a leader we need to be humble, remain grounded, and give due credit to the team rather than glorifying an individual effort. On top of that, the will of God remains a deciding factor and when you put your honest efforts, God will stand by you and things will turn around in your favour. This was evident when the King of cricket himself said that only a couple of times in his batting career he has felt a divine connection between ball and bat and one such connection happened during this match when he parked the ball out for six in second last over by an extraordinary short. As humans also, we need to understand that we are all emotional and being soft, vulnerable, emotional and getting tears in eyes need not be understood as a mark of weakness, but be valued as a parameter of softness, honest intent and brawniness.

                                The ace spinner who came to face the last ball so to score the winning runs taught us that despite the noise from outside, you need to be calm from within. Also, at times it is sensible to let the things go off especially when they do not fall in your line of action. The last ball which was going down the leg side was left untouched by the sharp spinner and this act not only turned the fortunes in his favour but also enabled him to score the winning runs as well.  

                                To sum up, this match will not only be remembered as a game of cricket but also will be referred by the corporate gurus and personality developers as a case presentation to teach resilience, rigour, confidence, self-belief and a never losing hope attitude. For the team, this match between the arch rivals will be remembered as a game of cricket wherein the champions saw an opportunity and not a dead end when the odds were stacked against them while for an individual this will be memorised for a tag line – Comeback is always better than a Setback.

 

Dr. Pawan Suri

psuricardio@gmail.com