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“Cricket is not just a game, it's a way of life” …
“Talent alone is not enough; hard work and dedication are the keys to success” …
“The greatest battles are fought within, and the biggest victories are the ones over oneself” …
…Sunil Gavaskar
Let me confess, I wasn’t great fan of little Master’s (plz google) batting but then those were days of radio (for us) & even TV broadcast was with single fixed camera, no speedometer to measure speed of the ball, no reviews & yes, no sophisticated safety gadgets for batsmen & I was too young to understand importance of test cricket & courage of this little man to face fastest bowlers in the world without a helmet! And I wasn’t been fortunate to watch his game ever but later I got to listen & read his views about cricket, & there are many with command on the language but a very few are there to have command on the game & mind to analyse the game, the way Mr Gavaskar (Sunny) has, which is my main reason of respect for him. At the same time, he never gave his example or applied his greatness as scale (which many great players fail to control) while analysing other players especially the younger genre, that’s one more reason I like to listen to Gavaskar & when its test cricket then he is the best person to comment on it!
Ok, enough about Sunny G, the sharing is about test cricket & about Women’s team’s One Day world cup championship & as the heading says, Indian Cricket is like pendulum swinging, as if on one side women’s team has become world champion in one day cricket then men’s team is scaling new low with every series in test matches, they are playing, is my subject of analysis. I am no little master but then I don’t comment on the way one should bat or bowl or field (which anybody in this country is free to) but the way the game is played or say fought as it helps me in my own game of life & which I feel I must share with readers. Cricket may it be test-match or one day or T20, each game is like a day in our life, as some days just get dragged like five day test match, some are like one day, fast yet give us time to recover or slump & some days are like T20, just gets finished before we blink & on all these days we can be on winning side or losing side, up which we name the days as bad or good or awesome! Actually, the days & the game (of life) are the same, it's our approach that makes them good or bad, is what I have understood watching, listening & reading about cricket, & such sharing are the outcome of that understanding!
Ok, speaking about matches lets take defeat part first & the way team India got defeated in recent two test matches series with S. Africa, that too on their home-turf, its soul-searching defeat for even the die-hard team Indian fans such was the level (read as poor) of the game of our team! Agreed, no player plays to lose, right, but this isn't an excuse when you get defeated time & again with making the same mistakes, & this logic is applicable for our day-to-day work also whatever field / profession we may be working in! Before this series, the same squad had defeated the W.Indian team in two test series but even in that series alarm bells rang in the second test when two west Indian batsmen fought hard on the last day & nearly drew the second test. I hope you guys remember as when it's remembering defeat, our memory is already very weak & when it's a test match, that to a so-called weak opponent, then not many fans have strong memory! But this write up is not about just cricket matches & results but about our learnings & when the opponent is weak then a wise player or team learns not from the result or outcome but the way the game has been fought by the opponent which team India definitely didn’t! And the outcome was when S Africa came here, we were on high as we have won test series two-nil & S Africa hasn’t won a test series in the last twenty-five years here was the history. But we forgot, this S African team is present Test World Champion & that too they have defeated team like Australia in the finals of test match championship & the difference between champions & others is champions has ability to create new history every time they play, which S. African team did & that’s one big take away for me! The pitches when Indian batsmen were batting looked 360 degrees different when the S. African batsmen were batting on them. And If in the first test our bowlers took the match on our platter our batsmen threw that plate away as we couldn’t make even some hundred plus runs to win in the fourth innings of fist test! That win gave the S African team what they wanted most, confidence & belief that they can win in India & the second test was the outcome of that confidence. Where our so-called celebrated batting line up gave up there every S African batsman contributed & second test the visitors won only by attitude. Worst part was, no Indian batsman showed any will or grit to stand on the pitch & fight, that hurts most! This is the price we are paying to become champions in white ball as test matches are different types of game. By throwing a bat for a few overs, you may survive & make runs in limited over format but for a five days match you need a lot more, that is fitness & temperament. The same principle is applicable in our working as if we want to take a profession or business long then we need to be patient & unfortunately the Indian team has everything but patience, so was the outcome!
Unless (obviously bosses in BCCI knows this) we take serious efforts on the test match pattern, it will be a very very difficult journey ahead of team India in the red ball format is writing on the wall. And coming to the fitness aspect, our young captain, Gill, got neck spasm while facing first few balls of the series & couldn’t play any innings in any of the test which costed us (probably) the test series as nobody will doubt Gill’s technique & temperament in test match format & his captainship which must be another concern for team India! Because, when Gill wasn’t available, the entire team looked clueless on the field, as frankly no one in the team was looking capable or confident to rise & take the leadership in hand & play the cards, that shows the down mindset of the team where people avoid leadership! A good team or a company is where people come forward & take lead by themselves, especially in times of crisis, which is missing in the test format of team India, another alarm bell! And this fitness factor is more alarming for our fast-bowling squad for which IPL types tourneys are the main reason. BCCI with its deep pocket must pay money to our key players especially fast bowlers for not participating in IPL as its easy to say players must first play for country & remain fit & nobody forces them to play IPL but most of these players comes from middle class if not poor background & giving up crores isn’t easy job for them. And sport is not a govt job career or profession where you can earn even after retirement or a profession like medicine which you can practice till you get old. Here, by the time you reach mid thirties you are out, exceptions like Kohli & Tendulkar but that’s greatness & once in a decade! So, dear BCCI, please shell out extra money for the test squad, if you really want to see team India becoming champion in test cricket also!
Ok, now silver rather, a platinum lining which came in the form of the Women's team winning one world cup by defeating S. Africa (again!) which also has been in the finals for the first time! Here also the fight was tough, though the Indian Women were on high with a win over the past champion Aussies (about which I have already shared in an earlier blog) in the semis & that’s what one good win can do to the morale of the team. Though I defer with this law of psychology as a champion team plays every match as new but then such things are good in books as we are humans & we are bound to get affected with the emotions & win or lose, does stir our emotions is a fact. And it's always good to ride on winning emotions which the women's team did & clinched the first ICC title for the country. Here the best part is, the entire country watched this match with equal excitement & passion the way we watch men’s cricket & that’s the biggest win for the women's team, more than the world cup is what I will say!
A country where we have to make laws against gender test & tag it as a crime because knowing the growing baby in the belly of mother (who herself is a woman) is a female, it’s been curated, in such country to gain respect & honour of entire nation by your performance as a woman, is hardest of the job, which Indian women’s cricket team has done & surely this win will go long way for their achievement! At the same time, to gain a world cup title is great but to retain it for long is something that makes you a real champion, as our men’s team did it in 1983 & then it took 2011 to regain it & after that in 50 overs format, we still are searching for it! Here is where Aussies are worth copying, as like a machine they keep on winning trophies & across the format, that’s what both our teams i.e. men & women needs to accept & adopt as winning also needs to be practiced, & sure New Year will tell us whether we have learned our lesson or not, this note is applicable for team India as well for the fans too, on our respective fronts (careers), adios with this note!
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Sanjay Deshpande
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