Raising the Bar - Following on with Second Innings

Coming from a small town, I have always heard of a funny quote - “kheloge-kudoge to banoge kharab, aur padhoge likhoge to banoge nawab” (you need to be good with academics to be rich and wealthy, rather than spending so much of time on playing which could only make you worse, metaphorically). Ironically, sports and extracurricular activities play a big role in overall development for any individual. If I recall my own childhood, I can very well remember the way we were conditioned to be more inclined towards securing good marks and getting a high paid job than thinking about taking sports or any other activity or skill as a profession. However, things change and we all evolve. I believe every new generation enjoys the seeds of their earlier counterparts.

Early 2000 era showed a lot of “real changes” in and around us throughout the globe. On one side where there were various peace treaties being signed up between the rival nations - India and Pakistan, the battle was rising up in an another parallel world, a fight of emotions and pride for their own countries, probably to outperform one another, it was the game of cricket which showed that you don't always need to have guns and rifles to win, things could be very well expressed without harming any life. As a cricket playing nation, we had always been known to struggle against the pace attack until we jaw dropped the world by showing how anything above 300 was still chase able in just 50 overs, while a test match could be won even after following on, we started beating the nations on their own soils, even outside the Indian subcontinent. So, what was the difference? What happened suddenly?

The team led by Sourav Ganguly started to curate a strong sense of self belief. From being overly dependent on the master blaster, each one started realizing his own potential as a player and became match winners. In yet another parallel world around this time, there was one of these attacking bats women in the top order, with the ability to thrash the fast bowlers, nothing less than a “Sehwag”, “Jaya Sharma” was never afraid to throw herself anywhere in the field to save a run or two. Well, there are hardly any guesses left of “Jonty Rhodes” being her favourite in the game. But, then why do I talk about her?

There is a saying in the game of cricket - class remains forever, while form is temporary. As a player in any game or sport, one is expected to go through ups and downs in his/ her career. While good times bring you huge respect and glory, it's the bad times that come in the form of a lesson to recheck your approach and go back to basics. It teaches you the importance of being strong fundamentally. From the time of thrashing those long sixes against the corporate team guys in her teens, Jaya Sharma had never been afraid of going against the odds, with aggression being her natural instinct in the approach towards game. Once into hockey and football to shift to play cricket professionally, Jaya Sharma sends us a strong message on why it is so important to have a strong desire and purpose behind any action or decision you make in life. It had been her passion and pride for the country that she was able to nail the unbeaten 138 against Pakistan in Karachi in the Asia Cup even after a rough start in the international career. Being the first female recipient to be rewarded as the BCCI player of the year in 2007, she recalls it as one of those moments which could not be expressed in words. Well, sport does give you something, more than the monetary benefits, the passion and pride with which you play and represent your team is beyond words. Jaya Sharma is one of those perfect examples that shows us how one could fulfill any dream in life, you simply need to have that perseverance to work hard and be disciplined, while remember to never be afraid of going back to basics. When she was surprisingly dropped from the side even after a bag of some great performances in previous matches, she never looked down or doubted her abilities, instead she nailed it back by letting her bat do the job. If you are a kid seeking to be a professional sportsperson and reading this, do not forget to keep in mind - while a good technique can add on to your skill, it's the mental battle that you need to win first. One needs to have that eagerness to work upon his/ her weaknesses and take every challenge as a new learning experience to be able to grow from there.

With proving her pole at every point in her career and life, it was unfortunate that Jaya Sharma had to call it off from the international career at a point when she was at a peak performance level. It amazes me how she is so honest and admits about missing an important aspect of fitness. She now understands the essence of being match fit and probably insists every young player to work upon their fitness levels at first place. As a Nutrition & Fitness Coach I too would personally encourage the young ones to work upon their own fitness levels right from the beginning, by being regular with the specific exercises and choices being made in eating habits, you need to be well nourished to be able to perform and recover well and stay away from injuries, while managing the fatigue. No doubts that teams across the world have started understanding the importance of Sports Nutrition and Training for their players. A Fit body and Mind will always make it through.

It is for this fact that Jaya Sharma still wishes to carry on with her second innings in life by inspiring and guiding the young minds and future sport stars, by not only as a cricketer, but as a mentor who realizes the importance of mental fitness as much as physical part. At a professional level in any sport, the pressure and stress that one goes through is immense, with the dilemma of being at your best and not disappointing your loved ones and fans, each time you step out is a mental battle itself. One needs to understand and simply accept that you are as good as your last performance and focus should be on living that moment in the game. More than the results, it's the joy of playing the game, the pride that you earn while playing should drive you each time.

By helping introduce the Sculpting Mentors (www.sculptingmentors.com), Jaya Sharma yet again shows how eager she is to work upon the subject of Neuro Linguistic Programming and bring it as a tool to improve and enhance the performances while handling stress at sports level. Conquer the battle in the mind, you win it outside. If Sourav Ganguly was believed to be as the Lord of Comebacks, I would say Jaya Sharma is another one.

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Inspired by the interview under Woman With Wings (complete link below )

https://www.facebook.com/womanwithwings2020/videos/720338391890425/