Life Lessons From the Defeat

                                     

It always hurts to see our country lose in any sport, perhaps even more when the sport is cricket and certainly the most when the occasion is as big as a World Cup semi final. The semi final defeat is indeed heart braking considering the Indian team’s skills and their supremacy all through the tournament. As a true cricket fan and being someone who is utterly dejected after India’s World Cup exit, I might obviously be tempted to pen down my thoughts about what went wrong for the team and to share my opinions according to my understanding of cricket. But for that I guess there are already enough discussions going on in which numerous factors are being debated upon with thorough details.

I would rather write about something that I felt with every passing over of the match and the feeling got stronger with each step that the New Zealand team took to break a billion Indian hearts. The game of cricket I feel, and particularly that match, is a compelling illustration of some of the complexities that every individual on the face of earth has to face in his life. There are similarities between the game of cricket and the game called life. Here go some of the key observations from the thriller which might leave us thinking deeper about our life and approach…

Be Hopeful and Positive: 

Going into the semis, New Zealand were not in the best of forms having lost three games on the trot and having just struggled their way into the top 4. They were up against an in form Indian team- which by all means and analysis is probably the world’s best team right now.Obviously, the Indians were the massive favorites to go through to the finals.  But the Kiwis have always had this tendency to punch above their weights and knock out strong teams in big tournaments. They remained positive and strongly believed that they could beat India although they always knew it would be more than an uphill task for them. 

                                          

Complacency is Destructive:

It would be perhaps harsh to say that the Indian team did not take New Zealand seriously. It was a world cup semifinal after all and every side at this stage is formidable. The crucial life lesson that lies here is that you can never ever take any opponent lightly. New Zealand was the team that was suffering setbacks game after game. If you look at both the teams on paper, New Zealand side stands nowhere as compared to the Indians in skills, resources and dominance level. But as it turned out to be, they proved to be too good for India when it mattered the most. In this fiercely competitive world, no matter whom you compete with, you underestimate the level of competition only at your own peril.

                                           

Failure on Crucial Moments: 

This is again a point worth discussing. The Men in Blue were phenomenal all through the tournament. There is now an opinion that teams should be rewarded for their consistent performance and that the table toppers should get another chance for qualifying for the final like it happens in case of the IPL. That is a debate for some other day though.  New Zealand, as shaky as their campaign had been, were excellent on the all important day and the Indian team somehow collapsed on the big occasion. The Indian top order which amassed tons of runs in the league matches failed miserably and it is here that one would reckon that more than half of New Zealand’s job was done.

Competitive sport throws an athlete into exciting but sometimes cruel knockout games, and as harsh as it may sound, even life often operates in the same manner. Imagine a student preparing hard for an exam for an entire year, being a consistent performer throughout, practicing hard and scoring well in all the mock tests but somehow messing up on the day of the final examination. Or someone in the corporate world, great at his job, usually excellent with presentations but for once consider things not going his way in an all important annual general meeting presentation. It might happen to anybody, even to the most well prepared, as it happened to the Indian batsmen. And as Virat Kohli lamented after the match- “Always feels bad when you play well all tournament and then 45 minutes of bad cricket puts you out.” It does feel bad Virat and it happens with all of us at some point in our lives. Life throws bouncers at us and sometimes we are not able to duck them. What is important is be prepared to the maximum possible level and holding your nerves in these high pressure situations in life.

                                          

Hard Work and Talent: 

Indian team was undoubtedly the more talented lot among the two teams. We were in fact the strong favorites to lift the trophy. We had the world’s best batsmen, a genuine match winning pacer, clever spinners and the experience of MSD as the X-Factor. All boxes ticked, right? Wrong!

As the saying goes that hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard enough. Not to say that we didn’t work hard, but in competitive sports at this level working hard essentially boils down to proper execution of the plans, which New Zealand did to perfection and we did not. Therefore, even with limited resources and less quality they got the better of the mighty Indians. If only our top order had risen to the occasion and applied themselves more may be we would have been cheering for team India in the final at the Lord’s on Sunday.               

Remember there is no substitute to hard work- not even an ocean of talent can replace the much needed pond of efforts.

                                           

Maintain Composure: 

Kane Williamson according to me has been the finest captain of this World Cup. He has shown superb presence of mind and has maintained great composure throughout. New Zealand won several close games in this World Cup and this success of prevailing in tight games can be attributed to the calming effect that Kane has had as a skipper and even as a batsman. Even in this match, Kane was visibly in control and didn’t panic even when Jadeja and Dhoni partnership seemed to be snatching victory away from New Zealand. During their batting also Kane and Ross Taylor showed great temperament and were going slow but steady. They knew their team’s bowing ability and got to the score which they thought was par under those conditions.

It is important in life to know your capability and to plan accordingly. Stay composed and focused towards your goals and success will surely follow.

                                           

Make Opportunities Count: 

Hats Off to Ravindra Jadeja who perhaps played the best ODI innings of his life and almost single handedly turned the game on its head. Though he missed out on taking India over the line he was simply sensational on the day.  Before his batting heroics, he was great with the ball and brilliant in the field. Jadeja is someone who has been in and out of the playing XI, yet he made the most of whatever opportunities that came his way. In fact, he is perhaps the biggest fielding superstar in the world cricket right now as could be seen with his spectacular Ross Taylor run out. Even when he stepped in as a substitute fielder in the previous games he never failed to make an impact and gave his 100%. Learn from Jadeja that no opportunity is small and no job is useless. If life gives you chances, grab them like our Jaddu grabs catches in the deep…

                                 

Life is Great Leveler:

It certainly is. One moment up, other moment down- life is indeed a topsy turvy ride. You might be a hero one moment and you might be brought down badly by life the very next moment. Consider two prolific openers- first Rohit Sharma who had been absolutely phenomenal before the Semis but got dismissed for one run in the all important match. He tasted the flavor of an athlete’s life the wrong way and to see him in tears by the end of the game was indeed heart breaking. Consider, on the contrary, Martin Guptill who has had a miserable World Cup with the bat. However, his direct throw to run MS Dhoni out was I think the final stamp on Kiwi’s ticket to the final and will perhaps remain the greatest moment of his life forever. This is how unpredictable life can be- a man with 5 centuries can face agony in the very next game and a man with literally no success can make amends for everything with just one accurate throw.  Life maintains a beautiful balance- so never let failure affect your self confidence and never let success get to your head as neither is permanent.

Fine Margins: 

Just like this fantastic game of cricket, life is a game of very fine margins. Remember Kohli’s LBW dismissal? The hawk eye showed it was just clipping the stumps and the decision could have obviously gone either way. And what about the most painful sight of the match- watching a teary eyed Dhoni walk off the field after that run out- yes, it was just a matter of a few inches and as was seen on various social media posts it proved to be the distance between Manchester and London which the Indian team unfortunately could not cover. Yes friends, small things in life do make a lot of impact in the broader sense. Little moments here and there, a little bit of efforts, that extra little push and you never know everything might change.

                                     

The Fault in Our Stars: 

Do you believe in destiny? You might say no but quite interestingly nature has its own set of complex permutations and combinations which you and me often fail to interpret or notice in the first place. No matter how hard we try there would always be situations that are beyond our control which is nothing but our luck, destiny, fate, fortune- whatever you love to call it.

Some of this possibility game was seen all through the world cup. What if Carlos Braithwaite had hit that ball only a little harder in that WI-NZL match….there would be no New Zealand in the frame then. What if there weren't so many wash outs that had a significant impact on the points table? What if Australia had scored those 10 odd runs against SA in the final league game? We would have then faced England in the Semi Final. What if Pakistan had made it to top 4 instead? Would they have been an easier opposition? Finally, what if Guptill didn’t get that all essential direct hit- which from such a long distance is rare, spot on?

It often happens in such tournaments and you can never get an answer to such questions.

Similarly, this cycle of “What If” never leaves our lives….but you see these are mostly uncontrollable factors. Sometimes you certainly need your share of luck in life- some events going your way here and there and some share of fortune. But what we can at the best do is to try as much as we can and to hope for the best. This is the motivation that should always keep us going in life.

                                      

Like billions of Indian cricket fans, I too am very upset over whatever transpired in Manchester on Wednesday. But what happened on that day is past and Indian cricket certainly has a bright future ahead. Also, as a cricket tournament always does, this world cup gave us memories and lessons that remain with us for life. This is the spirit of the sport and this is what keeps us attached to it. Hopefully we imbibe these thoughts and ideas and move ahead with a more positive outlook in life….Until next time our Indian team does what it is best at- bringing smiles to our faces with their brilliant performances….Hard Luck, Champs!


Daniel Sinha