Will-Power Can Beat The Hell

For a moment, I gladly accepted the fact that it can be beautiful without my hero. I wondered what if bodies would break. I left behind the idea of supporting either of them plainly because of nervy moments and sweating palms. But the show kept going on and on till a divine intervention made its presence felt. I say divine because it was only divine that could stop them.

Ever since I saw Roger Federer playing the game, any grand slam final without him never stirred my interest enough to catch a glimpse of the match. Somehow, I managed to watch the first few minutes of the Australian open final on Sunday which featured Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – world no. 2 and no. 1 respectively. If there was any indication of what was in store, it could not have unfolded in a better way – majestic tennis of 353 minutes. We will leave the thought of winner and loser for some other day.

Yes, it ended 353 minutes later. I thought that the Melbourne will have to wait for Monday sunrise to decide the winner. It was a game one would seldom witness in a lifetime. Close matches and long five setters are not uncommon and time and again we have seen a few epic stuffs. But this was something special. It was not a test of technique. It was not a test of knowing each other’s game well. For that matter, there was nothing that Nole or Rafa had to prove. Ever since these guys started playing grand slam, there was writing on the wall as regards their glorious careers.

It was a test of mental toughness between the two of the mentally toughest sportspersons in this era. It was a test of overpowering every bludgeoning cross court forehands or baseline winners. There was tremendous display of high class professional tennis coupled with a will to smash each other to the extent of beating the hell out of each other. Final hour of the play had it all. Bodies were literally howling in never ending rallies. Nole almost broke his body in the longest rally of the match deep in the fifth set. Yet, it never looked like anyone of them was willing to offer a single inch of room. Each point was fought harder and harder.

The game eventually ended because it had to end. But, there was not one winner for me. If there was a rule, I could think of stopping them at some stage and declaring both of them as winners. Both of them displayed Great Spirit, Competitiveness and Will-Power to say the least. It is our fortune that there are so many great tennis players around us who play hard and fair game slam after slam. Take a bow – Nole and Rafa! You both deserved to win!

We are with you, Maahi!

For most of us, New Year means new hopes. With this very hope, we have embarked a wonderful journey of 2012. By journey, essentially I refer to the experiences – good or not so good, heartening or at times heart-breaking, jolly as well as somber. Who says life is always going to be a mattress of pink roses. And when there are thorns, there comes learning which makes one go wiser, steadier and balder ;)

Perhaps, this is what MS Dhoni meant during the post-match conference after Sydney test which India lost to Australia by unbelievable margin. Over four years of his captaincy, he has been through a golden patch which never seemed to end and people wondered at one point whether it will ever end. When India faced the ignominy in England few months back, a lot of factors were attributed to the mass failure which looked ok and sustainable to the cricket crazy nation including fans, media and experts. We not so open-heartedly accepted the defeat but eventually moved on. New Year has not changed the fortunes for Dhoni either – a master of leadership, humility and sportsmanship.

Two consecutive losses in Australia – first Melbourne and then Sydney – took the tally of test matches lost by India on foreign soil to a consecutive six. Now, there are questions being raised on the man who could never do wrong. Captain Dhoni finds himself on the firing line. Well, there may be some tactical errors which could well be one of the reasons behind such failure. And Dhoni admittedly understands the learning in the process. If you follow media, there are hundreds of other reasons that one may hear.

This post is not about getting into details of any specific reason. It may sound a voice of a sentimental cricket fan, but I tend to believe that these are the players who can deliver the results lack of which is being scrutinized to every detail. Can’t we just keep things simple and humbly accept that opposition has played better than us? May be, our preparation was not up to the mark? May be, we did not click collectively? May be, there are some issues within the team management internally?

I am sure that Dhoni knows it well within his jurisdiction and he is not the one to sit back and relax. For God sake – give him time to work through the system of test cricket amidst crazy limited overs environment (including bizarre scheduling) and ever-changing team dynamics including fitness management. Let him take a call which he is quite aware of (he openly admitted to the fact that he may not play in world cup 2015). He never expressed the responsibility that he has carried over past four years and therefore, we don’t even come close to appreciate that. Don’t write him off for he has given us every reason to smile in his short term of captaincy. If at all anyone has to be blamed, it has to be the infrastructure which has undergone radical and stupid changes due to boom-boom hitting caused by T-20 format.

I would instead admire courage of Dhoni who understands gravity of each question posed to him and answers honestly to his best. He may sound stereotype but isn’t he balanced, isn’t he calm amidst chaos, hasn’t he put his head up and sounded ready to face the next challenge and immeasurable pressure built by media. Not to forget the pressure of leading the team and working with administrators who are hell bent to transform the gentleman’s game into money-generating case study. His is the leadership we must treasure. His is the leadership we must respect. And his is the leadership which we must handle with care for his is the leadership so rare.