Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Defeats...

The art of handling defeats, this is something which cannot be learnt easily and this is also something which most of us dont want to learn.It is being told that people who take their defeat lightly are true sportsperson, but isnt the true sportsman known for his thirst for victory.

Now how to handle it? As such i was very bad at handling defeats or failures.I am still afraid of failure but i have learnt that life goes on. Also its very simple to handle them.Here is what i learnt:

You can lose in two ways either because of you or because of others. If you are losing because of you, then it doesn't mean that you are not fit for it (as i used to say), it is just that you did not give your best or it just wasn't your day. Probably the person who beat had give his/her heart and soul into it. And when you lose because of others just take it light. See a one man army cannot succeed always. There could be great individual performances, but for a team to win we always need a good team performance. This is something which we always see with Sachin and India. When your team mates are not upto your class you cant do anything about it. You can just do your best.

Just remember that you cannot play for everyone in the team or work for everyone. If you have done your best and if you are satisfied with your performance just keep up the good work. Success will come and find you one day for sure!!!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

As Masterful As Ever

Sachin Tendulkar.....Its been 18 years and still India needs this one person to deliver it everytime he walks out. We speak of Dravids,Dhonis,Yuvarajs but Sachin is always a class apart. He is what he is and he is what he was and what he will be.

Before the DLF Series, people suggested its time for him to retire, he is old, rusted and they event went to the extent of calling him as ENDulkar.What a shame! Only we Indians can do such a thing to a person who has done all that he could from the age of 16 for his country. Here is some tribut which i could pay for the master.

Ten out of Ten(DULKAR)!!!

A lot has been said and a lot been written about his talent. One failure .... his form becomes the talk of the country. An injury .... whole of the country prays for a speedy recovery, every other doctor is asked for an opinion, even a layman wants to know all about the problem, such is the impact following the name Sachin Tendulkar . This man has an aura. He is such a class act, that no one can ignore him or stop wondering at him.

Born: April 24 1973, Bombay.A Right-hand bat and a part-time spinner.Came into limelight in his early teens.Started to represent his country in his late teens. Holds the records for most ODI appearances, runs, hundreds, man of the matches etc….More than 24,000 international runs nearly 75 centuries, more than 100 half centuries, nearly 200 wickets and above 100 catches. There doesn’t seem any need for someone to talk about what he is capable of.

17 years of serving Indian cricket, he has been awarded with Arjuna Award, PadmaShri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (The Highest recognition for a sportsman in India).He was named the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1997.Was compared to the Don by Don himself. The Ex-English Captain Naseer Hussain said, “There is no world XI without Sachin in it”. These events and comments reflect Sachin ....the definition of perfection in cricket.

For a budding Cricketer, Sachin is a great batsman, and has been proving over a long period;he is a tricky bowler, something he proves time and again. Over the years, Sachin has had to bear so much responsibility and yet has had to take the blame if the team lost. Tendulkar has done enough to be considered one of the all-time greats in either form of the game. The figures will add up, for he is only 32, after all.

But for a Layman, say a Software Engineer like me why would Sachin need to be the role model. He is so successful not merely because of the way he plays but his attitude. It’s no rocket science as to why he has played so long and has been so successful. Just look at the way he leads his life, the way he conducts himself both on and off the field, and you have got the recipe for success. There is no hidden side to Tendulkar the human being — what you see is what you get, and what you see is a simple, balanced, level-headed, super -successful young man who has charmed audiences worldwide with his awesome exploits on the cricket field and his impeccable behaviour off it.

Sachin, as his name stands has been more or less been a symbol of purity.17 years of public life we have not heard any scandal involving Sachin. He has always maintained his personal life clean and never got into any controversies, which somehow people seem to get into after an year or half of public life.When the whole cricketing fraternity was shook by the Betting scandal, so many of his own team mates caught in it; Sachin remain untouched. And the highest proof of his integrity is mirrored in the comment from the old Ali Irani in his statement to the police said, “We generally start the betting only after Sachin gets out”.

Talking about his qualities the Next thing following is his commitment, placing country before self. He has been accused time and again as to a person who plays for records; he never completes the matches and etc. But the master in his own way showed what he holds higher in his life when he flew back to England to play for India against Kenya after his father’s death. Though all of us knew he was in deep grief the whole of India expected him to come back; its quiet arguable as to from how many more people we would have expected the same.

The Competitive skills of this guy need not be questioned. In every match he makes his presence felt in some way or another. To quote a few examples, Pan to the Kolkata Test against Pakistan, having stared a huge lead in the face, India fought their way back through early strikes on the third morning. The momentum was with India, but Pakistan weren’t out of it, centurion Younis Khan and the never-say-die Asim Kamal at the crease. Younis played a cracking on-drive, and as skipper Sourav Ganguly from mid-off and Tendulkar from mid-on gave chase, the latter perceptibly slowed down mid-stride and muttered a word or two to the captain.Ganguly hauled the ball just inside the ropes, and flicked it back a little wide of Tendulkar, in tow. The little man took a fraction of a second to size up the situation, and rifled in a 90-yard throw to the wicket-keeper that caught Kamal, returning for a third run, totally unawares and well out. Tendulkar then set off on a war dance that showed just how much that dismissal meant to him. Arms raised high above his head after a clenched right fist had repeatedly punched skywards, Tendulkar sprinted the length of the field, high-fiving with every team-mate, a grin as broad as Rahul Dravid’s blade plastered across his face. It was similar to his reaction when he snaffled Inzamam-ul-Haq at the long-on fence in the final one-dayer in Lahore 2004 series.Also to quote the reaction after scalping the big Inzi for 7th time in the 4th one-dayer. Evidence enough to show that time has taken little of his competitive skills away.

A person who values his words a lot, can be hardly found speaking against a person or bad mouthing a person. Even if big mouths like Shoaib make umpteen statements before a match, he answers them only during the match through his bat. I sometimes secretly pray that a player says something about him before the match, it sort of kindles Sachin and the answer he gives eventually results in a Indian victory. Many bowlers have suffered this, to a name a few Shoaib Akthar, Caddick, Muralitharan. Even on the field sledging just provokes Sachin to play better, ask McGrath for an analysis on this and he would remember things as if they happened yesterday.

The discipline he maintains. Sachin has always been the most affected of dubious umpiring but can hardly been seen showing dissent in public. His urge to learn, the passion for the game,etc.. Such are the standards Tendulkar for him that he is allowed no failure. Just as there is a tendency from one school to condone everything he does, is the overwhelming barrage of criticism from the anti-Tendulkar school — and again, as difficult as that might be to believe, that is quite a sizeable number — at the first hint of the most complete Indian batsman hitting a rough patch. Having said that, it is a tribute to Tendulkar’s longevity and his focus, his undiminished skills and his insatiable appetite, that in all forms of the game, against all countries and in all conditions, he has blazed a trail that can only be described as spectacular.
His biggest success lies in the Art of Handling success, in keeping a steady head, in keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground. The middle-class moorings have not been cast away in a jiffy; almost incredibly, after all these years, Tendulkar is still the boy next door. He wears the cloak of success with modesty all too rare. And this along with all those pointed above makes him the ALL TIME HERO of Mine...