The other day I was watching a football match. The digital clock was flashing the time left for a crucial match, which was extended due to scores level till the full time.
Suddenly a thought came to my mind, how these players control their emotions and play out those final few minutes. The ticking clock was also visible to them as well as the viewers from all over the world. There was no display of panic or show of unwanted aggression. I wish some of our cricket players watch these matches and learn a trick or two for preserving the stamina and controlling it for a final go at their goal.
We come across several situations in life similar to this scenario where we are left with the final few moments of tackling a critical action and helpless to react not knowing what to do ahead. This brings us to the summarisation that follows and criticism in plenty as an aftermath of such a decisive event.
All of us are good at commenting what should have and not have done when it was happening in real. The advent of electronic media has opened up unlimited opportunities to observe and develop our skills and thinking pattern.
But, going out there and performing is a different ball game. Imagine the mindset of a player at that particular situation with the external heat, the match tempo and the target requirements. His mind has to be focused on his ultimate goal, i.e. the victory of his team.
For this he has to have a concentrated effort to break his goal into short-term and long-term goals. First set of short-term goals will be to settle down and get the feel of the ground and blend him to the tempo going on. Then work towards the larger goal of winning the game for his team. It is here his knowledge and perseverance to stay on without wasting energy for expressing unwanted emotion. This is where he wins his battle over the micro-seconds in case of a football match or the reducing no of balls to no of runs required target.
I listened to another captain who lost the other day and said, “In some matches, we win, but today we got an opportunity to learn.”
Isn’t it a good way to look at the future at all times.
Ramesh Menon
To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY online.
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