Tonight when the Giants will Sleep-Dreams of Sir Sachin and Ponting

www.fifthangle.com

 

A mouth watering game, India Vs. Australia, in a world cup quarter finals, and what a win for India. As I sat glued to the television for the last 7 overs, one thought that went through my mind was not about the story of nail biting finish but by the story of how different will be the dreams of two giants when, after the whole drama and noise will start to fade away and they retire in their respective beds, silently.

The viewers, across India, today will have a real nice dream, as they witnessed India perform to its best. May it be the fielding, Bowling or Batting, India outperformed Aussies in every department of the game, but this post is not about the analysis of the game, but something more interesting, something which will happen tonight, when two of the most talented people in the world of cricket, will retire in their respective beds and the thoughts that will occupy their mind.

Our forefathers have said, ” Even the softest bed cannot give a pleasant sleep to a non hardworker, and even the bed of steel can give a pleasant sleep to a hard worker”.

But what will happen today is something far greater than this, something exact opposite to the saying, as one of the most hard worker and great performer of the match- with a century in his belt-will retire tonight on the softest bed, but will not be able to sleep.

Yes, today after every one will retire in their bed, one man Mr.Ricky Ponting, will hear a cacophony in the silence of night. One of the most talented of the players cricket has ever produced, Mr. Ponting, who have been involved significantly in everything of Australia, right from putting a thought to all the strategies, and motivating the team, and performing to his best – 104 runs and top scorer of the match-will hear silent noises, noises so harsh and powerful that it can wash away years of his hardwork and dedication.

As the stadium will turn lonely, and the big lights will dim, he will sit alone, silently, and the thoughts will play like a flashback about how his years of hard work and dedication towards Australia, and Australian cricket team, will be crushed, analyzed, and will be mocked tomorrow, in every newspaper, television, including the small groups of people, who will give their expert opinions on why he (Ponting) got what he deserved.

As he will prepare himself to go through the pain and pressure for next long months to come, which will seem not to pass away and will seem never ending, there will be one another man, another giant of cricket,who will also witnessed this whole catastrophe over Australia.

Tonight when the whole world will go silent and this great man, will retire in his bed imagine for a minute what thoughts will go through his mind. He has not made the best strategies ( he is not the captain so is a part of the strategy ), neither he has given his best performance ( only 53 runs), but today when this institution of Cricket, Sir. Sachin Tendulkar will retire on his bed, he will sleep peacefully.

He will sleep peacefully, because the way Sir Sachin defines and judges his performance is far far different from the way ,Mr. Ponting defines it.

Mr. Ponting, defines victory when he performs best, when his team beats the other team, first mentally-by talking shamelessly and senseless in media-and then on ground, and utilizing all the tricks (eyeing the batsman, bowling body line balls, using right or wrong methods) of the trade to just win.

On the other hand, Sir. Sachin defines victory, totally in contrast to what Ponting does. He defines Victory when every member of the team, performs to the best of their ability, try to live the moment, and instead of focusing themselves towards making the outcome most important, work endlessly to live the moment to the fullest and perform their best.

The best example is from today which Raina shared during his after match interview. Raina recalled that before he was about to go to bat, Sachin came to him, and gave him a “hi5″, and just said, “go out their and this is your time, just excel these moments.”

As Raina was asked, how he managed such a positive and calm attitude when he came to bat, his lines were, ” I wanted to live upto the moment for Sachin”. and this answers lot of things to a aware mind.

Today when Sachin will retire in his bed, his mind will not be occupied with the ground, the noise, the dreams of fellow men, the wrong umpire decisions & neither about the victory of India, nor about the way they made Australia loose.

He will not analyze what will happen tomorrow, nor what will happen if they loose the match from pakistan, he will not analyze what if they gave 20 more runs to Aussies, or what if they took two more wickets of Australia.

Sir. Sachin will only think about the nice sleep his body deserves after a rigorous cricket match, as he understands the importance of winning the moments, and not letting the emotions take over.

And that's why, I always say,

” Talent can win Matches, but it takes a Team to win Championship”.

Ponting is a school which specializes in managing and finding exceptional talent, while Sir. Sachin, is an university which specializes in ensuring best performance from every individuals, thus building Team.

Good Night Sir. Sachin, and thanks for being our God, because until God is not great, we mortals will remain small.

Abhinna S Khare