Dominate the World!

There was a wicketkeeper who played for India - KS Bharat. He played seven matches for India. He was a decent wicketkeeper and an ok batsman. He never made a splash in the international circuit and faded away after a few games. One day a news caught my eye ( this was when he was still in national contention) about him being feted by his state association for making it to the national team. I felt a bit odd seeing it - why was he being felicitated when he had barely started. He had barely achieved anything.

Then it stuck me - his aim and the ambition was probably to make it to the national team. In India millions start playing cricket but only eleven take the field. Making the national looks unattainable when one is grinding out in domestic circuit. And hence gaining the national caps means that the dream is fulfilled. Mr Bharat was the first wicketkeeper to score a triple century in the domestic circuit and had 3561 runs. He toiled very hard to win the cap. When he won it, he thought that things would take care of themselves now that he had achieved it. He had lost the fire and desire he had carried until now. The same things will not get to the next level.

But was making the national team enough? Not really. Now he would be just somebody who was given the chance and couldn’t do justice to it. He wouldn’t be remembered. No posters of his would be put in rooms. No innings of his would be remininced. Nobody would talk about how they felt when he was on the crease. He would become a stat for an avid quizzer who wants to ace the competition.

There have been many times in my life when I have crossed a level and not been able to perform at the highest level. This usually happens when I give more importance to the struggle to get to that level than to achieve the level itself. I have foolishly believed that now that I have gotten to this level after a lot of hard work, I have arrived and things will take care of themselves. They never do.

Every level is a game, and there is a way to ace that game. One has to know the rules and work hard to ace it. One should aim to be the greatest of all time - take the pain and struggle required for it and understand that every level and the way to get there is just a part of the journey for the same.

Whenever I have aced a particular field in life, it has happened when I have looked to obliterate the competition. This has happened when I have made light of the level I am at and prepared or ready for the much harder tests. I do not take the current level as the pinnacle but rather an easy version while I plan to compete with the best in the world. Only when I try to be world-class do I defeat the people at my level. Average performances rarely take one to the next level. They just mean the constant refrain of - “ Has potential - does not use it”

So to be good at anything to have the hunger - aim for being the best in the world. Try to be ready to make sacrifices and get pain for it. Be ready to obliterate it. One should act out of the need to dominate and subdue rather than compete. Humiliate the opposition. Only then will praises be sung about you!