Cricket.......

Participating in any sports sincerely teaches one most important thing, which is Sportsman Spirit. While it is true of all the sports, my experience comes from cricket as cricket is the sport I sincerely and passionately indulge in.

After a long break I got a chance to play for my class cricket team in an interclass cricket tournament. In the beginning of the tournament we were one of the weakest team on paper. By the end of the tournament, surprisingly we were the champion side.

One of the friends, while commenting on our performance said “you people played seriously”. Some of my teammates thought of this remark as rather derogatory, however I realized that this was actually one of the best compliments our team could ever get!

In all the matches, we reached the ground at scheduled time, each time our captain took some decision everyone followed it with great precision. Whereas other teams were late in coming to the ground, fighting with each others at times.

These small and rudimentary details may look very trifle, but in the end they impact the whole game in a huge manner, we learned this in a most enjoyable manner.

We struggled a lot, with umpires, unfair opponents but we were determined not to lose. This determination came from the vision of our captain, and was shared by the whole team.

We lost an important player before the tournament began but what we did not lose was the commitment to the cricket and the discipline that it directs.

In one of the matches we were given a raw deal, we were asked to bat under the bad light. Even when the match began the opponent team wasted a lot of time, forcing us to bat under bad light. That match was a true test of character, mental strength. The opponent was a seniors’ team so they played with rules, not the game!

In the end we went on to win that match, most dominatingly. From that match we learned to play under external pressure, doing our job well even if things are not going right with you.

To me, this thing is even more significant than victory, because in life too there will be raw deals thrown at you, people doing wrong things to you. In such cases the ability to do our job in most right and efficient way determines our mental strength, character and courage.

I am thankful to our team for this wonderful learning.