The Uthappa Factor - RaVai
This is all about a sixth One-day International cricket match when England and India locked their horns at the Oval, on 5.September 2007. England led the series 3-2 with the fate of the last match in the series hanging in the balance. England finished their batting first with an impressive 316 in 50 overs.
India replied with 307 for 8, with Robin Uthappa and Ramesh Powar at the crease, 10 more runs required to register a victory in the last over to register a victory for India.
The game commenced and two singles off, the first two balls of the 50th over meant India still had to make 8 to win off the 4 balls and that is the precise moment when Robin played an audacious- looking stroke that saw him transform instantly from a raw twenty-year old kid to a man. A shot that is still etched in your mind if you were witness to it. Playing his first international series, Robin shuffled across outside his off stump and scooped a straight ball perfectly pitched on his middle stump, hoisting it over the wicketkeeper's head towards fine leg for 4. Next ball another 4, and that sealed England's doom and India won.
That scoop shot was a stroke of supreme confidence perfectly executed, that took India on road to success. But had Robin missed that ball, his stumps would have been knocked over. It would have looked ugly, even embarrassing. Experts would have pilloried him for not caring for the team's interest, for playing irresponsibly and in short for India losing a game. Luckily, it was a different story that it worked, and Robin's 47 runs off 33 balls, meant that India had found a batting hero.
Often perhaps the fear of failure holds us back. As a result, we don't even attempt to do what we are capable of.
The thought of failure crowds our mind.
We think of the miss. We think of our weaknesses, our limitations. The consequences of failure. The humiliation.
The agony of defeat.
Winners think differently. They think of how they've succeeded in the past. Their strengths. They visualize success. They imagine the joy of winning. The glory.
The accolades. And bingo-success is theirs.
In that moment of challenge, you can either think of your past successes, or of your failures. The choice is yours.
And you impact your results. If you think you can, you can, If you think you can't, you are right.'
Our lives are like windows. We can look through our challenges and see the glory and feel the joy of winning. Or we can focus on what is wrong and all we see are our weaknesses and the bugs, the smudges, the difficulties. So when you stand by the window of your life's challenges, choose to look at your strengths.
Visualize the joy of winning. Don't focus on your limitations. Don't look at the fingerprints and the smudges.
Learn to be a Robin. Rise to the occasion.
You will win.
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