The thin line between greatness and stupidity

The World Test Championship of Cricket has just concluded. Most Indian fans would have preferred a different result. There is a lot of angst about a few dismissals, the choice of shots by some of the Indian batsmen, the non-selection Ashwin…etc.

Cheteshwar Pujara, someone with immense patience, someone who is known to wear the opposition down, played an uncharacteristic ramp shot (aka a T-20 game) to gift his wicket. Fans and commentators alike called this a “Brain fade moment”.

Was it indeed one? Maybe yes, in the context of the game.

Many years ago, 1984 to be precise, India was playing England in a Test match at the Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi. India were on course to save this test match after falling behind in the first innings, Just when the match was heading towards a draw, the legendary Kapil Dev, played an outrageous shot by holing out to the long-off fielder. India collapsed soon after this wicket and England?chased down the 127 runs required to win the test match and later the series as well. Judicious and sensible batting would have got India to safety.

Kapil was widely castigated and dropped for the next test match at Calcutta.

Fast Forward to 1990. India is playing England at The Lords. India are nine men down and need 24 runs to save a follow-on. Kapil was the striker and he had Hirwani at the non-striker end.. Legend has it that if there was a team of?all the No.11 across the world, Hirwani would have still come in at No.11. Kapil had no confidence to turn the strike over to him. Eddie Hemmings was the bowler. Kapil goes after Eddie Hemmings and hits four sixes in a row to help India save the follow-on.

Kapil, who was castigated for playing the same shot in ’84 was now the toast of the nation!!

What changed?

The same shot, one led to glory and the previous one led to defeat. The margin in sport and in life between greatness and stupidity is a fine line!!

Athletes…… be it in cricket, hockey, football, Formula-1 or any other sport have micro seconds to make a decision. They make their decision on instinct. Some come off….and some do not. They succeed because of this innate ability to assess risks and execute their play. They may fail…a few times. To attribute motives or comments like brain fade is unjustified.

Thankfully, most of us are not athletes or doctors or pilots who have to make life changing decisions in a matter of seconds. The luxury we all have is time. Very rarerly are we expected to make life changing decisions in an instant.

As I grapple with some big decisions in my own life, this is the advice that I would like to give myself to avoid “brain-fade” moments.

The fact is that life’s biggest work-related and personal decisions usually involve processes that unfold over time. Taking on a big project at work is likely to occupy you for months or even years. That doesn’t mean that you should skimp on the decision process. Definitely do your due diligence. Consult with experts. Draw up lists of pros and cons.

Be prepared to iterate your plan.

There is an old saying in the military that no plan survives the first encounter with the enemy. Similarly, no matter how good the plan is that you develop after making a decision, that plan will fall short when it is implemented. The world will change. Some people won’t follow through on commitments they have made. You might even have been wrong about the best path forward.

Give it your whole self

Remember that the actual decision you make is the start of a process, not the end. It is easy to pick something and immediately start second-guessing yourself.?Instead, avoid looking back at your other options after you have made a choice. Commit fully to the path you have chosen. There is no benefit to sapping your motivation by spending time wondering what might have been.

FINALLY, DON’T TAKE IT TOO SERIOUSLY. LIFE HAS WAYS TO GIVE YOU A SECOND CHANCE!