The rain would have received maximum curses two days ago for washing out a day in the world test championship final between India and New Zealand. Fans have been eagerly waiting to witness a classy and competitive clash between the top two test teams. All believed that consistent rain would push the match towards a draw. Couple of days before the match, a interesting point of view on which team has gathered maximum support for this match caught my attention. One cricket expert said, India might have got many fans due to its massive population but New Zealand has an edge in terms of the number of supporters. Because every fan in every cricketing has New Zealand as their second favorite team. We all love Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Trent Boult, Shane Bond, Ross Taylor and many players. These people remind us that cricket is a gentleman’s game with the way they carry themselves. Losing temper, which is common for teams such as Australia and Pakistan, is totally unfamiliar for them. Remaining humble irrespective of the result of the match is a great asset that can only be exhibited by that team on almost all occasions. Being content with who they are and what they have is something to be applauded. All the above things can also be applied to New Zealand as a whole, due to which they are standing tall in list of happy, secure and safe countries. No wonder the prime minister of the country had to wait for 30 minutes to find a table in a restaurant.
The case of New Zealand can be turned around to apply for India, that team has applied the lessons they learnt as the nation to cricket and our team can apply the lessons from the team to various sections of the country. Can you believe that India had to wait for 20 years to register their first test win? Yes, India played it’s first test match in 1932 and registered their first win only in 1952. We have raced ourselves from being on the losing side for eons to hunting down every cricketing nation. What are the factors which helped us achieving that feat? What can be learned from those?
Finding and Backing the Best: The fact that Indian team depends only on few players was defied by the one of the greatest captains of all time, Sourav Ganguly. His ability to scout for talent backed by a huge tenacity to raise Indian cricket has paved way for great players like Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan Singh. He also believed in the talent and provided immense support to players like Anil Kumble who went on to become one of the top wicket takers in test cricket. The only standards to bolster these players are talent and their love for the game. Every cricket fan is aware of how much these players have contributed for the country. Once upon a time, there was huge lobbying for cricketers who come from big cities but that tradition was ceased under Ganguly’s leadership.
Just imagine the amount of positive transformation the country can go through if we have politicians who appoint officials based on talent and love for the welfare of the people. Our appointments usually revolve around how that official can help a politician amass crores of rupees and how that official can help them abscond. An honest officer is like a lone player, who can never take the team to the finish line without support from the other players.
Rule of Law: Since the 1999 fixing scandal, the communication among the stakeholders in cricket is under lot of scrutiny. I am not vouching for the absence of fixing and corruption in Indian cricket but it has not succeeded in disturbing the harmony of the national team. The harsh punishments which ruin the entire cricketing careers and the capacity to implement such rules has a lot to do for suppressing the fixing to a huge extent. The nation as a whole also has rule of law but that is suffering from the debility to punish even the most corrupt in the nation. Rules are useless unless they are implemented.
The Drivers: The resurgence of Indian cricket team has started with Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman cementing their place in the team and sharing the onus along with Sachin Tendulkar. All the above names personify immense talent, impeccable integrity and huge love for the game. Not just during their playing careers but they are leaving their mark even after retirement by helping cricket in various roles. Whether it is leading a state association or cricket academy or the board of cricket. They are ensuring that the game maintains utmost quality and be at the top of the game always. It would be shameful to these names if we even compare them with the drivers of the nation. Just realize what kind of people are being chosen to be the ministers and chief ministers. How many of these politicians maintain utmost integrity and honesty? Choosing the drivers of the nation has to be done based on certain principles. I don’t think I have to mention the standards being used measure their worthiness to be in those positions.
We need a great determination to find and back the best, implement rule of law and choose the best drivers. Can this happen anytime soon?
