Lessons from Afridi
aah.. confession time.. Despite being forced to mourn Sri Lanka's crumbling luck at y'days T20 finals, I must confess, I was both proud and slightly blushed to the ears to watch Shahid Afridi become the man of the match. Its not just because i've nursed a 12 year crush on him that began on on an idle day - when i was 12 and staring at the TV screen starry eyed and awe struck as the 16 year odd Shahid 'boomed-boomed' the fastest 100 in ODI history in his first appearance. I think its a bouncy bouncy soft, straight brown hair and the fact that he was 16 (just 4 years elder to me and his hard hitting style to become the Youngest player in history to make an ODI century at just 16 years and 217 days with his 37 ball ton against Sri Lanka. It included 11 sixes and 6 fours)
A true wild card!!... i could spot one when I saw one.. and connect with it..from then on, as I watched him get out for ducks, get dropped off and get labelled as a "soda pop" player, a one-innings wonder... I wondered why the world cherished average consistant duds as opposed to those with a magic of themselves, but aint "consistant".
I felt a special affinity towards this fumbling player (not withstanding my hot sparkly crush on him) cos he could not fit into the demands of delivering everyday.. and he has had the most spikey career/ performance chart ever.. A lot like me.. cannot deliver on the daily drudge.. misunderstood. thought utterly inconsistant..
But then as I watched him yesterday (sans the crush, after it got shattered after he married his counsin.. jeeze and i somehow ended up with a another-North western frontier types man [aah i think its the afridi effect working on me at a subsonciouse level]) I was feeling uplifted, and motivated with many life's truths hitting my head like falling bricks.
Here's wat I learnt from the 'boom-boom' man
1) It is fine to be a wild card- untamable, uncoachable with ur own style. It is only those with their unique flamboyance who would b remembered
2) Even if you have the highest strike rate in cricketing history/ you have a gift and quickness that others dont have, it doesn't guarantee that u rise to the top fast. It would take a long painstaking time, until u learn to accept 1) u are not like the rest of the daily drugery consistant fellows who delivers and avg performance each day 2) even if u fail the experience u learnt goes in strengthening u for the final game that matters, that one brilliant performance that only u can do which the avg, consistant mongers cannot reach..
3) That wild cards are mostly misunderstood and dismissed.. which badly affects ur confidence. Afridi kept on saying in an interview
"Is it fair to say that you didn’t achieve your potential in the early part of your career the way you are doing now?
The diference is that at the start if I didn’t perform in one or two games, then I’d be dropped. So I didn’t get confidence from that. But now I’m playing cricket full of energy and focus. My last two years’ performances are much better than before and I don’t want to go back. The captain and coach have really given me a lot of confidence. They’ve said, “Don’t worry too much if you’re out; dont think too much about it; just go and play your game”. And that’s what our players want. Confidence from the captain and coach" (http://www.spincricket.com/2009/06/12/shahid-afridi-speaks/) The trick is not to feel disheartened about the fact that u cannot perform the same way everyday. The world might c u as erratic and sporadic, but the point is its the bouncing ball that can reach the highest point not a ball in horizontal linear motion forward.
4) But wildcards also need people to believe in them. If no one believes in them, their talent just whithers away. And when ur given a chance to perform you must perform and show that u can do the best. So that even on ur off days ur peaks will be remembered. For example, after former coach Bob Woolmer gave Afridi a second lease of life in Test cricket after two and a half years (after being exluded for his soda- pop performances) recognising Afridi’s chaotic potential to turn even a Test in half an hour’s brutal hitting, His faith has been repaid: it was Afridi’s 58 off 34 balls on the fourth day – the second fastest 50 in Test history – that helped turn the last game of the India series at Bangalore in 2005: the next day, he ripped out the India middle-order (Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman) to clinch the win and a series draw. Afridi followed that up with 92 off 85 balls against England at Faisalabad in the winter and two consecutive tons against India in January. The ton in Faisalabad – 156 off 128 balls – included 116 runs in boundaries. ((http://www.spincricket.com/2009/06/12/shahid-afridi-speaks/)
But finally, and most importantly, I learnt that "it is the staying power that counts." Pakistan had seen many young cricketers come and go. Eight or nine changes captaincy changes, bickering within the team, a suspicious death of a coach and the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan players had shattered Pakistani cricket. In this chaos, many young players, who were rough gems missed a chance to become polished into unleashing their full potential. They just wilted away after a few ODIs. But, despite the turbulent times, the personal backlashes, Afridi stayed on.
And that is the hardest thing for a hot-headed, wild card to do. To keep ur cool and bat on while being pushed around. " I’ve played under eight or nine captains; a few of the captains didn’t like me. Because of all the ins and outs, all the liking and disliking, they made the atmosphere shit." says Afridi- (its funny how my work situation in the past 4 years has been exactly the same)
And the most bitter truth to swollow specially for people trapped in bitter work places. "A few of the selectors didn’t like me. The main thing in Pakistan is liking and disliking, rather than anything to do with form or talent." aaah.... isn;t that a sad human flaw that impedes most of us? But the only way to ensure that u save ur self for that one glorious moment in ur life when all that bitterness, back stabbing, humiliation, cornering and misunderstanding just melts away and becomes a source of energy that helps u shine like no other in what ur passionate about doing is stay on. And ensure that the candle doesn't go cold in those dark, gloomy nights.
A true wild card!!... i could spot one when I saw one.. and connect with it..from then on, as I watched him get out for ducks, get dropped off and get labelled as a "soda pop" player, a one-innings wonder... I wondered why the world cherished average consistant duds as opposed to those with a magic of themselves, but aint "consistant".
I felt a special affinity towards this fumbling player (not withstanding my hot sparkly crush on him) cos he could not fit into the demands of delivering everyday.. and he has had the most spikey career/ performance chart ever.. A lot like me.. cannot deliver on the daily drudge.. misunderstood. thought utterly inconsistant..
But then as I watched him yesterday (sans the crush, after it got shattered after he married his counsin.. jeeze and i somehow ended up with a another-North western frontier types man [aah i think its the afridi effect working on me at a subsonciouse level]) I was feeling uplifted, and motivated with many life's truths hitting my head like falling bricks.
Here's wat I learnt from the 'boom-boom' man
1) It is fine to be a wild card- untamable, uncoachable with ur own style. It is only those with their unique flamboyance who would b remembered
2) Even if you have the highest strike rate in cricketing history/ you have a gift and quickness that others dont have, it doesn't guarantee that u rise to the top fast. It would take a long painstaking time, until u learn to accept 1) u are not like the rest of the daily drugery consistant fellows who delivers and avg performance each day 2) even if u fail the experience u learnt goes in strengthening u for the final game that matters, that one brilliant performance that only u can do which the avg, consistant mongers cannot reach..
3) That wild cards are mostly misunderstood and dismissed.. which badly affects ur confidence. Afridi kept on saying in an interview
"Is it fair to say that you didn’t achieve your potential in the early part of your career the way you are doing now?
The diference is that at the start if I didn’t perform in one or two games, then I’d be dropped. So I didn’t get confidence from that. But now I’m playing cricket full of energy and focus. My last two years’ performances are much better than before and I don’t want to go back. The captain and coach have really given me a lot of confidence. They’ve said, “Don’t worry too much if you’re out; dont think too much about it; just go and play your game”. And that’s what our players want. Confidence from the captain and coach" (http://www.spincricket.com/2009/06/12/shahid-afridi-speaks/) The trick is not to feel disheartened about the fact that u cannot perform the same way everyday. The world might c u as erratic and sporadic, but the point is its the bouncing ball that can reach the highest point not a ball in horizontal linear motion forward.
4) But wildcards also need people to believe in them. If no one believes in them, their talent just whithers away. And when ur given a chance to perform you must perform and show that u can do the best. So that even on ur off days ur peaks will be remembered. For example, after former coach Bob Woolmer gave Afridi a second lease of life in Test cricket after two and a half years (after being exluded for his soda- pop performances) recognising Afridi’s chaotic potential to turn even a Test in half an hour’s brutal hitting, His faith has been repaid: it was Afridi’s 58 off 34 balls on the fourth day – the second fastest 50 in Test history – that helped turn the last game of the India series at Bangalore in 2005: the next day, he ripped out the India middle-order (Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman) to clinch the win and a series draw. Afridi followed that up with 92 off 85 balls against England at Faisalabad in the winter and two consecutive tons against India in January. The ton in Faisalabad – 156 off 128 balls – included 116 runs in boundaries. ((http://www.spincricket.com/2009/06/12/shahid-afridi-speaks/)
But finally, and most importantly, I learnt that "it is the staying power that counts." Pakistan had seen many young cricketers come and go. Eight or nine changes captaincy changes, bickering within the team, a suspicious death of a coach and the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan players had shattered Pakistani cricket. In this chaos, many young players, who were rough gems missed a chance to become polished into unleashing their full potential. They just wilted away after a few ODIs. But, despite the turbulent times, the personal backlashes, Afridi stayed on.
And that is the hardest thing for a hot-headed, wild card to do. To keep ur cool and bat on while being pushed around. " I’ve played under eight or nine captains; a few of the captains didn’t like me. Because of all the ins and outs, all the liking and disliking, they made the atmosphere shit." says Afridi- (its funny how my work situation in the past 4 years has been exactly the same)
And the most bitter truth to swollow specially for people trapped in bitter work places. "A few of the selectors didn’t like me. The main thing in Pakistan is liking and disliking, rather than anything to do with form or talent." aaah.... isn;t that a sad human flaw that impedes most of us? But the only way to ensure that u save ur self for that one glorious moment in ur life when all that bitterness, back stabbing, humiliation, cornering and misunderstanding just melts away and becomes a source of energy that helps u shine like no other in what ur passionate about doing is stay on. And ensure that the candle doesn't go cold in those dark, gloomy nights.
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