281 and Beyond

by V.V.S. Laxman

‘The profession doesn’t glorify you, you glorify the profession. We are serving Mother India through medicine, you serve her through cricket.’

Several of my friends told me that I was missing out on all the ‘fun’ things in life. They asked me to loosen up, to enjoy myself, to go out with them to watch movies, and to not be obsessed with cricket. How could I convince them that I was having fun? That I was enjoying myself?

one mantra: ‘I am first’. The first referred not so much to where one finished, but the preparations to get there. They were keen that I should be No. 1 when it came to effort.

‘You must look after your own preparation instead of relying only on the coach because you have to be ready to perform when the opportunity comes,’ he told me.

In a matter of four months, I had made a half-century in my Test debut, fractured my hand, injured my knee, and had yet kept my wits about me. I was now looking forward to playing the quickest bowlers in the world, in the unfamiliar role of an opener, in their own backyard. My father was delighted with the character I had shown in adversity. It pleased him that his son was not relying on short-cuts in his pursuit of success.

is laudable to aspire to play for the country, it is possible at the same time to have fun while playing for your state, while playing for any team for that matter. It struck me that even after three-and-a-half years as an India cricketer, I didn’t really know the meaning of playing cricket.

I told myself that from now on, I would lead the life of a normal first-class cricketer. I would take pride in contributing to Hyderabad cricket, and play for Indian Airlines, my employers. But I would never open the batting again.

Playing for the country was a massive honour, but it was not the be all and end all of cricket. I had to stay in the present and enjoy the challenges and charms of the first-class game, not merely use it as a stepping stone to more widely recognised honours. If, in the process of helping my team climb the rungs, I did enough to catch the eye of the national selectors, fantastic.

Most youngsters breaking into the team are so busy trying to establish themselves that the fun element goes out of their cricket, and I say this from experience. MS was different. Whether he was batting, keeping wicket or at training, he had a ball. His room was an open house,

the door open till past midnight. He was a big PlayStation freak, with a special liking for war games.

You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Remember, it’s vital to have fun. What’s the point otherwise?’

No matter how gifted you are, history is proof that you can’t be successful if you don’t polish your gifts.

The owners at Chargers, and I suspect several others, were result-oriented rather than process-driven.