11 Life Lessons from Cricket

From being an admirer and a hard core fan of this sport, slowly I learnt playing the game. Just like how we learn lessons from different occasions in life, Cricket has taught me a lot. I have a lot of respect for this game and off late this has interested me to look out for how different players approach the game in different situations. And that's when I learnt to turn these strategies to simple life lessons.

1. Team Work: Each Player in the team is so important and have their roles cut out. This player can be any one in each of our lives - Family, Friends, Relatives, Colleagues and at times even a stranger. Each of them come into our lives for a specific reason and guide us in different ways be it visible or not.

 

2. Learn to adapt: There is no One-Size-Fits-for all approach in life. With that said, when situations change, learn to adapt, shift gears and move on. We all have witnessed matches which were won on the last ball of the match. There can be many such 1 ball situations which can be life changing. Be careful to choose your shot and always have a plan in mind looking at the target to achieve.

 

3. Practice, Patience and Perseverance: There is a study which says - It requires 10,000 hours of practice to achieve the level of mastery in anything. It's only then one is called a 'World Class Expert'. Learnt the art of dealing situations with patience which reminds me of Try, Try and Try .. Until You Succeed.

 

4. Pressure to Perform: In a digitally connected world the term pressure is like a WiFi Signal which is always around. Connecting to Pressure only when required brings the positive best in us. Virat Kohli, Indian Cricket Team Captain has this habit of taking the pressure head on. He creates the pressure onto himself as he feels motivated and brings the aggression in him to perform. In behavioral psychology it is called 'Positive Reinforcement'.

 

5. Choose your shots carefully: It's not an easy task for a batsman to just go out and face the world's best bowlers with the fielders around waiting for the batsman to make a mistake and HOWZAAT!! For a moment let's assume one self as a batsman facing the problems created by situations in life and the stress and worry just like those fielders are waiting for us to make a mistake and HOWZAAT. Wait, but the batsman now has different options to choose before he makes a mistake - Defend the ball or wait for that loose ball and hit it out of the park.

 

6. Never play a cross bat shot: Cricket experts keep saying this - Always present the full face of your bat and there you go wait to hear that sweet timing of the ball and the umpire signals a boundary or a six. This is often true in life. Always face the problems head-on and restrain from short cuts. Cross bat shots can save your wicket once or twice but the straight bat always comes to your rescue in the longer run.

 

7. Learn to Defend: No matter the format of the game, be strong with your defense. There was this test match in early 2000's in Australia and India was batting. All of a sudden there was a huge roar and applause amongst the crowd  as the Indian batsman had hit a shot and crossed for a single. Now you should be wondering why a huge roar for a 'SINGLE'.  That's because this run came after the world's best bowlers being the likes of Mc Grath, Fleming, Bret Lee, Symonds were bowling their heart to get that wicket. But there was one man who didn't seem to budge. And there came a SINGLE after 40 balls. The batsman was none other than "Rahul Dravid". There has been many such situations where this man stood like a "WALL" and won the match for the Indian team.

 

8. Introspect & Self Correct: I drew inspiration from "The Test -  A New Era for Australia's Cricket Team". It talks about the long 18 month rough phase which Australian Cricket team went through after the Ball Tampering & Sand Paper scandal rocked the cricketing world in 2018. It was a challenge for Justin Langer  as the head coach of the team as it was not only about rebuilding the entire team but also dealing with failure mindset and also rebuild country's sporting image. The team under Tim Paine, then new appointed Australian captain took up the challenge and went on to win the Ashes. It's so important for each of us to not give up during the lows but utilize the time to Introspect and get back to momentum.

 

9. Innovate & Invent: This need not be about doing big things, it can even start with small things like making those diet changes to maintain a healthy life style, learning a new skill which can add strength to your portfolio etc.,In the modern cricketing Era, MS Dhoni deserves a mention. He has always approached the game with a different perspective. It can be the value add he brings in with those stumpings in a flash, lower order strong hitting, unorthodox field setting, running between the wickets, mentoring the bowlers, captaincy tactics, handling team dynamics and his deep understanding of the game. 

 

10. Have a 360 degree approach: It enables individuals to maximize the chances of winning, if not gives you that edge over others in this competitive world. Just like AB De Villers another modern day cricketer, has never failed to amaze us with his unorthodox shots and being one of the innovative and destructive batsman in the game of cricket.

 

11. Play everyday like a Test Match: It is more important for players to keep up with Test cricket format though the likes of T20 or ODI's have dominated the sport in recent years. Test matches reveals the true sense of character for every cricketer and provides a chance to each and every player to experience all the above 10 dimensions.  

There is always a WIN, LOSS Or a DRAW. Many times teams play for a result but sometimes they even play for a draw. 

Keep your mind HIGH when you have won and your head HIGH when you lose. Remember getting wins to your head and losses to your mind leads you to nowhere.

 

Have you had your Life moments with Cricket. Please reveal in the comments below for us to know and learn.