This blog post is part of the
#madeofgreat contest organized by Indiblogger and Tata Motors. Check their
page: http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/
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If you are a sports-loving
teenager between mid nineties to early 2000s’ in India then there is great
chance that you are dedicated follower of the game of cricket. I was no
different. Borrowing one of the old advertisement slogans of the nineties, I
can say, I used to ‘Eat Cricket, drink cricket, sleep cricket’ and was in love
with game.
I was lucky to watch some of the game’s greats
in peak of their cricketing career during my growing up period. There were stalwarts
like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil
Kumble, the cherished ‘fav five’ of Indian cricket! And then there were global
superstars like Brian Lara, Glen Mcgrath,Adam Gilchrist, Wasim Akram, Allan
Donald... just to name a few. They were great sportsmen, great characters and
nice human beings on and off the fields. There are so many stories about these
players, stories of hard work, determination and above all about their love of
the game.
Among these hosts of cricketing
legends the one player who stands out for me with his greatness is Virendra
Sehwag. Generally a humble person, I always found him as a simple guy with
great attitude. I believe that in life attitude is the key. You may not always
have to be the best in your job to be successful if you have the right
attitude. And this is true for every aspect of life like academics, performing
arts or sports.
Sehwag or ‘Viru’ as he is
lovingly called by his friends and fans has this simple approach in his game,
especially when he is batting. ‘If there is a ball to be hit it should be hit’
this is his motto in life. This approach may not be successful all the time but
when it works it can get you magical results.
And Viru has provided so many
magical memories for us. I can list down his great innings starting from his
debut test century in South Africa to his triple centuries in Multan and to his
feat of starting all the group league matches of the 2011 World Cup with a
boundary first ball. But this is not a list of his great performances with bat
and ball. Neither am I going to bore you with statistical analysis of his runs
and wickets. Because as I have said, sometimes how you have scored the runs is
important than how many runs you have scored.
Rather I am going to emphasize the
impact of a man who has inspired me to have a simple approach in life. Who has educated
me not to think too much and enjoy whatever I am doing. I know that if I am
sincere about my effort, do my homework right and if true to myself then
success should not be far away in life. There are so many moments where I have
seen Viru accomplish this in most difficult of situations and took India
towards victory. All with a smiling tension free face against deadliest of
bowling attacks from around the world.
With his retirement from international
cricket last month it felt like another part of my adolescent years are gone.
But the memories are there to cherish forever. His fierce cuts and pulls and
above all the life lesson of being simple and effortless will remain with me
forever.
For me Virendra Sehwag is truly
#madeofgreat who is legend of the great game we all love. He has faced every
difficult situation in the cricket field with simple but determined mindset
while humming peppy Kishore Kumar song despite all the pressure of expectation
from the people of a cricket crazy nation.
Virendra Sehwag was an
exceptional cricketer and a true Hero. A youth icon in every sense! Thank you
for the memories.
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P.S. What do you think of Tata Motor's association with Lionel Messi? Answer as comment and best comment might win you a prize of Amazon voucher worth 750/- rupees.
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P.S. What do you think of Tata Motor's association with Lionel Messi? Answer as comment and best comment might win you a prize of Amazon voucher worth 750/- rupees.
