An article on cricket which I wrote - yeah it got published!
To excel means to do something better than or to surpass someone.
Cricket, the national obsession of India, is after all, all about surpassing the opponent. For that matter any sport is. You have to do better than your opponent to win. However, cricketers, because they play such a statistics-crazy game, are that much more inclined to excel or surpass one another in terms of numbers.
And can we, the fans, forget the euphoria generated when Sunil Gavaskar first breached the 10,000 run barrier in Test cricket, or more recently, when almost everyone right from the bhajiwalla to Sachin Tendulkar himself, agonized over when he was going to break Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test tons? Thus excellence in its most elementary form is rooted in the very nature of cricket.
But to say that excellence in cricket is all about drab statistics, would be doing a grave injustice to the varied canvas of human achievement that cricket is.
Excellence is not only surpassing, it is also about giving your best, no matter what the circumstances. It is about raising the bar, every time one performs. That is what the spirit of human excellence is all about. In this essay, I have attempted, through glimpses at some extraordinary performances over the years in cricket, to provide an insight into this very spirit of human excellence.
Any discussion on cricketing excellence is incomplete without that doyen of cricketers, Sir Donald Bradman. Right from his advent on the scene in the mid 1920s, the Don had always toyed with the English bowling. Matters had come to such a head that English captain Douglas Jardine came up with the devious strategy of bowling at Australian batsmen not to get them out, but to knock them out cold. In other words he instructed his bowlers to aim at the batsmen’s bodies and not at the stumps!
The tactic obviously was instantly successful. The last thing Aussie batsmen - jumping and dodging to save themselves from balls aimed at their heads and ribs - had on their minds were runs. In fact, many were in such bad shape that they had to be stretchered from the wicket. Predictably, Australia lost the series. But even during such a bloody mayhem, the Don managed to average a respectable 57 runs per innings, which in the context, was worth more than its weight in gold. Batsmen would have been flattered to achieve such a feat in normal times. The Don achieved this during what is now (in)famously known as the ‘Bodyline’ series. While others were (justifiably) fighting to save their lives, he had the guts to make runs in such a situation. Such was the Don, such is excellence!
While on the topic of excelling in the face of physical intimidation, another instance comes to my mind, that of our very own Mohinder Amamrnath, popularly known as ‘Jimmy’. The time was 1982-83, the Indian team was on a tour to the West Indies. The West Indies during the 80s had possibly the best fast bowlers of all time in their attack. It was a Test match at Barbados, one of the bounciest pitches in the world.
Malcom Marshall was bowling to Jimmy Amarnath. Marshall bounced one delivery particularly hard. The ball reared up and struck Jimmy squarely on the jaw. Blood gushed from his mouth. The man himself staggered back. Courageous as he was, he didn’t flinch. He just knelt down and held his mouth. He was carried off the field on a stretcher. No sooner had the pain subsided a bit, Jimmy was back batting at the crease. Marshall again. Again Marshall bounced Jimmy. Any man would have ducked underneath the ball to save his life. But Jimmy instead stood tall. He just had enough time to swing his bat hard at the ball as it came whistling up to his nose. Bat and ball made contact. The ball soared into the stands for a huge six. Sunil Gavaskar sitting in the pavilion shook his head in disbelief and wonder, dumbstruck at the impetuosity (some say foolishness) of the man.
But Jimmy had proved his point; the Indians were not going to bow to physical intimidation. Such was Jimmy’s response, such is excellence.
Intimidation need not always be physical. Seldom has a captain had to face so much intimidation of the mental kind as did Sourav Ganguly during the start of the tour to Australia in 2003-04. The unanimous Aussie view was - this guy will not be able to last long in the face of ‘chin music’ by our bowlers. But Ganguly is a fighter to the core. The man has withstood intense media scrutiny and criticism throughout his career. He was not going to give up without putting up a good fight. The score line read 65 for 3 when he walked out to bat. Under pressure, he played a few streaky shots first up. But as his innings progressed, the confidence returned. Soon he was playing strokes in the laidback silken style of his. On 98, he swept Stuart MacGill and took off for a run. Sensing an opportunity, Ganguly decided to risk a close second run. Second run completed, Ganguly leapt twice in the air, as even the most hardened Australian supporter got to his feet. He had done it. Leading from the front the captain had instilled self- belief in his team, which later came close to winning the series.
Excellence is being better tomorrow than you were yesterday. A certain Rahul Dravid was forced to follow this approach to excellence. Despite having one of the best averages in Test cricket, Dravid was found wanting when it came to the rigours of one-day cricket. It was as if the classicist in him was not ready to defile his game to cater to the demands of instant cricket. How the man went about remodeling himself, changing his approach, his attitude, his methods, his place in the batting order, his utility (he even kept wickets) can be the subject of a case-study at a B-School. All the management catchwords of optimization of resources and maximization of potential apply in Dravid’s case. A man who knew his limitations, who knew he didn’t have the raw talent of a Sehwag, the innovativeness of a Tendulkar, the grace of a Ganguly or the style of Laxman, but had one quality in copious amounts - the desire to give his best every time he went out to bat. Excellence for him is not a destination; it is a never ending journey, with new insights to be gained at every juncture.
Sometimes when the situation seems hopeless and the cause seems lost, it is time to undertake the impossible, for it is then that pedestrian notions must be abandoned. Who can forget the Kolkata Test of 2001 against the Australians? Battered and bruised, the Indians were staring at an almost certain innings defeat. VVS Laxman decided it was the time to stand up and be counted. In the company of Rahul Dravid, he authored one of the most astonishing fight backs in the history of cricket. It was fascinating to watch. Both the guys knew they were one bad shot away from defeat. Yet they batted for an entire day, in the process completely demoralizing the Australians who were reduced from being all-conquerors to mere ball-fetchers form the boundary. Follow on? 274 runs deficit? No problem. The pair put up an astounding 376 runs partnership. 281 to Laxman, 180 to Dravid. If statistics lie they certainly don’t do so in this case. That India went on to win the match was just reward for the Herculean efforts of Laxman and Dravid. For almost one and a half days of grueling cricket, the pair epitomized the dictum - Hope springs eternal.
But what about excelling when one is at the peak, when there are no more mountains to be scaled, when seemingly everything achievable has been achieved? When nothing but excellence is the motivation to excel. None other than Sunil Gavaskar epitomized this in his last Test innings. Gavaskar by then had been acknowledged as one of the all-time greats. He had nothing left to prove. The scene was Bangalore, the opponents Pakistan. The pitch was actually a dust bowl where the spinners were making the ball turn sharply and bounce up to shoulder length. It was that kind of a wicket on which the batsman considered himself lucky if he managed to last for 20 deliveries. On this deathtrap of a wicket, Sunny authored a definitive 96. His concentration was total, his footwork immaculate. He played like a master. What motivated him to concentrate on such a wicket as if his life depended on it? Nothing but the desire to excel, the quest for which is endless.
What these diverse instances of human endeavor under duress signify is the human spirit of excelling, whatever be the task! Isn’t that what life is all about? That you always give your best shot? Maybe that’s the reason why cricket is believed to be something that is much more than a game; it’s a way of life; its all about excellence.
Go on, give it your best shot!
No comments:
Post a Comment