Cricket and Thoughts - Part 1

    I know, I know... Nobody wants to talk about it after last Sunday. Nevertheless, I still want to discuss it because I love the game. For us Indians, the emotional connect with cricket runs deep. It's to the extent where cricket is religion and cricketing heroes are revered as demigods. Cricket terminologies have seeped into daily conversations and national cricket achievements have been etched into the collective memory of the nation. It's a cultural phenomenon that binds our nation together. Umm this is becoming an essay, so let me put out my thoughts on our World Cup defeat. 

    Indian fans have every right to feel angry. We undoubtedly had the best team and were unbeatable throughout the tournament. We consistently dominated until the finals, but one bad match took everything away from us. We've been attributing our defeat to the toss outcome, crowd dynamics, team management, pitch conditions, poor strategy and luck, and while some of these reasons may have impacted the game, I think most players succumbed to pressure. 

     Being unperturbed in the face of challenges is extremely difficult. I become restless and my hands quiver turbulently as time starts running out in exams. Apprehension grapples me while speaking in public. I cannot imagine how burdened they were with the expectations of over a billion people. The Aussies were absolutely brilliant on field. They just came to play with a steely-minded, 'never give-up' attitude in the largest stadium in the world that was painted in blue. They lost wickets too, but were undaunted and smashed the boundaries. Their fielding strategy to targeted at each batter was brilliant. They won the game with tactics and mental strength.

    This heartbreak should be a stepping stone for improvement and growth, both for the players as well as Indian fans. Now, I'm neither a sportsperson nor a yogi with mental equilibrium, so it would be foolish to impart life-lessons or anything. But I'm anyway going to write some things that I learned from this tournament(I need to write something for my blog). Ups and downs are part of sport and life, and handling both with humility and patience is important. 

    In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that victory cannot be attained by merely desiring it. But not being attached to victory will remove the fear of losing. Doing your duty without any expectations will leave no question of happiness or sorrow. Being indifferent to the potential outcome and doing your Dharma with presence of mind is what matters. I think Dhoni has done this to some extent. 

    It feels like I'm being too much of a guru here and the blog is getting too long, so I'll continue talking about the brilliance of our cricket players in the next blog. See you!