Technology, speed, precision and approach — all have changed cricket as well as life
What is life has always been a difficult question to find an answer to, particularly because there are as many views to life as people. The experiences of life shape the philosophy of individuals about life. For instance, the Kathmandu earthquake. It turned many a believers into non-believers and vice-versa depending on the course of events they encountered. Often the world view of individuals are fairly stable, though sometimes excessively traumatic experiences do alter them. But that apart, the changing times also impinge upon people’s mindsets, making them interpret incidents and events according to the context. The present time may be viewed in the same way.
Not too long ago, many people believed that life is slow and steady that can be predicted on a given course. So they believed that one who submits to fate is wise. For such people, the game of cricket resembled life and it was popularly believed that there always was a second innings. Those were the times of test cricket in which technology had little impact and outcomes were predictable. Though many a times umpires played a crucial role and with the movement of his finger swung the fortune of players. And mind you, those days the idea of neutral umpires was an alien one. So the batsman had to contend not only with the bowlers and fielders, but also with the spectators and umpires.
Cricket thus was also a game of chance and luck mattered. A parallel would be drawn with life. Enter Kerry Packer, a marketer who proved to be the game changer in the Seventies. Cricket changed and so did the people. life now had no second innings. The philosophy was ‘you only live once’ instead of ‘once is not enough’. Technology, speed, precision and approach — all changed cricket and life. Third umpires became a new entity to ensure greater fairness. The world view about life also got modified and people felt more in control. Ambitions, goals and persistence became the defining traits of life. A more confident generation, more cricket-savvy and optimistic entered the scene. But the change continued. In both attitude towards game and life. As the grammar of the game changed, cricket no longer remained a gentleman’s game. It was more of entertainment, a competitive sport where confidence, resilience and attitude became critical. Slow and steady no longer mattered. It was fast and accurate — that was the norm.
Cricket was now defined in terms of T-20 and attitude of people towards life also went about a corresponding change. These are T-20 times as IPl competition is in full swing and a lot of people are watching T-20. listening to the running commentaries and watching the matches gives a fair idea of how world view towards life is being influenced by the shorter variety of the game. Predicting the outcome may still not be easy as in this version one or two good or bad overs may change the entire complexion of the game. But there lies the critical lesson. Hang on and you may get the opportunities in the form of those good or bad overs. So persistence, grit and resilience will matter. Both in the game and in life. And yes reputation and performance are different things, like in the IPl. Big names do not matter. Big performances do. So life is to be lived like that. Stay on the wicket and you may get that chance. Never say die till you actually die.
The writer is a professor, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com