COVID-19: Learn the virtues of patience from great cricketers

Staying at home and maintaining hygiene are two important to do’s for all to remain safe from the coronavirus disease. But to practice this, one needs tremendous patience and discipline. The game of cricket teaches these two traits, and most great players have these two qualities in abundance in them.

Staying on the batting crease and keep scoring runs do not come through sheer inborn talent alone. We have often heard about cricketers with great skills but repeatedly failing to post big scores.

During an interview with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for the Friday Magazine, the Little Master told me: “Discipline, focus, desire, passion, and fitness are a must if you want to achieve any form of longevity in any field. A disciplined and dedicated effort is what I followed.”

At a time when coronavirus is threatening the longevity of everyone’s life, these qualities are ideal to be emulated. Even bowlers need these traits to be successful. India’s leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is a chess player turned cricketer and he’d recently remarked that chess had taught him that even if he didn’t get a wicket during a full day of a Test match, he could come back and get wickets the next day. Patience and the hope that the COVID-19 threat will end soon are vital; one cannot get disheartened during this phase.

Everyone has stressed on the importance of being mentally strong during this phase. Sunil Gavaskar, who spoke to Gulf News recently on the need to be mentally strong, is an embodiment of that. Had he been intimidated by the huge, well-built fast bowlers of West Indies, he would never have become the first man to reach the 10,000 Test runs in cricket.

Fear about the future and negativity are something that can grip anyone, especially when staying at home without interacting with people. The famous saying that ‘an idle mind is a devil’s workshop’ can turn into reality during this phase. It is during such phases that one should visualise success and dream of achieving glory as soon as this crisis gets over.

This is the right time for everyone to try and read inspiring tales of sportsmen. Sport is about human endurance and the stories you may read are mostly about how sportsmen achieved success through determination.

Many young cricketers complain about not getting selected and on the lack of facilities that have hindered their progress. This is the time get rid of that habit - once and for all. Read an autobiography of a cricketer and there you will see how he managed to ride the toughest of odds to be successful.

This is not the time to complain as to how unlucky you are to be affected by this crisis. Remember, luck has always favoured the brave and the determined!