Turnarounds are heroic, which is why they can never be predicted.
What the Indian lower order did today is one of the finest examples of a turnaround in the world of cricket.
Looking at what happened, wise people can say that it’s not a rookie job, if you closely look at the guys involved in the turnaround in this test, you will realize that most of them have scripted a turnaround story in their real lives too.
The 29-year-old Thangarasu Natarajan, born in a family with a daily-wage worker in the weaving industry for a father, Thangarasu and a roadside meat seller for a mother, Shantha, Natarajan comes from Chinnappampatti, a tiny village near Salem, Tamil Nadu. He never had enough money for luxuries like cricket gear and shoes. For many years, Natarajan had to think a hundred times before investing in new shoes. His mother cried when she saw him representing India on TV. His wife gave birth to their son when Natarajan was playing IPL in UAE. He hasn’t even seen him yet because he went straight to Australia in a bio bubble.
Shardul Thakur – this young lad from Palghar in Maharashtra, located almost 90 km north of Mumbai. The Palghar Express, as he is known as in the Mumbai circles, was once also dropped from the Mumbai Under-19 squad for being overweight. He battled obesity to play for Mumbai and thereafter IPL. No less than Sachin Tendulkar advised him to lose weight for a great cricketing career ahead of him. After receiving a barrage of criticism following a forgettable first season, Thakur shed 13 kg and transformed himself into one of the most promising young fast bowlers on the fringes of the Indian team.
Siraj rose to become India’s new-ball bowler despite being born to a poor rickshaw driver. His father died and he couldn’t perform his last rites as he was in Australia on national duty.
Washington Sundar’s father, Sundar – was a talented cricketer who was sponsored by his rich neighbour throughout his local cricketing life. His name was Washington. The man passed away just before Sundar’s second son was born. Sundar named his son Washington as a tribute to his benefactor.
Navdeep Saini’s father was a government driver and could not afford expensive cricket coaching for his son. So Saini played exhibition matches on a tennis ball at Rs.300 a match to fund his dreams.
All these guys came together as debutants and have turned this match over its head. All their lives they were waiting for this moment in their cricketing career. All their failures, all their struggles, all their doubts and all their insecurities – all that was settled once and for all in this Test match. When presented with an opportunity, they fired themselves up and attacked Australia with all guns blazing.
In this series, more than any other Test series I have seen in my life, the Indian Cricket team has proven their naysayers wrong. They have sustained tremendous pressure and taken hard knocks all over their bodies against one of the best Australian attack ever. And by doing so, they have made us realize that while 5-hour IPL matches can create instant celebrities, Test Cricket, which stretches over five days, creates real heroes.
There are such turnaround specialists in every team, every company. They may have not got big degrees from IIMs, IITs or foreign universities, but they come with survival instincts, they don’t give up, they fight.
Leaders should be able to recognize such talent and give them the right opportunities to grow, rather than being surrounded by ‘Yes Boss’ ass lickers and management gyan giving parrots.
Source: curated from a post on WhatsApp and multiple news article