10 Things we can learn from IPL players

Since IPL season is here that all of us have been waiting for long and with the good cricket that we support, we cannot deny that we all are glad. There is no greater rejoice for cricket fans to see great players like Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo and numerous others to share the same ground and screen.

Though all of us have our favorite teams that we support and want to win this Indian Premier League season, there is little good in every team and every player that we can take exam motivation from and implement the life lessons learned in our daily routines to make our lives easier and results better and quicker. Being students, the most sought-after quality is learning.

One must always be able to take inspirational life lessons from even the little good that anyone has. Here we list down some lesser known facts about some of your favorite players of IPL 2019 and what exam motivation can one, as, a student derives from them.

1. Virat Kohli

 All of us know Virat Kohli for his aggression and attitude on the field. Though what most of us do not know is that he gets this attitude because of his confidence to express. You might have come across a number of Virat Kohli quotes about the same. Virat Kohli once said, “Never at any point did I feel like missing a training session. I was very keen on improving as a cricketer and as an international player.”

The level of self-discipline that this player has given him the confidence to use his aggression positively on the field. As aspirants, we can take a lifelong learning from the level of self-discipline that this player has and how he only has an urge to compete only with himself.

Already being the best ODI player, he always still strives to improve and be better than his own self with each passing day. When you are prepared completely and know that you have given your goal the best that you could, you can surely perform with aggression on the judgment day.

2. MS. Dhoni

The background that this player comes from is not very fancy. He hails from a small town of Jharkhand and belongs to a very simple middle-class family. Even after he got a government job as a ticket collector in railways, he decided to give it up and work for his passion for cricket.

The decision sure would have not come easy but the courage to decide in favor of it is what separates such extraordinary players from the crowd and contribute to an extra ordinary success story.

The calmness of this player helps him get through all the tough times that he, as a player and his team face. Being calm, even under unmatched pressure of the game has been the USP of this player in Indian Premier League 2019 and even ever before. Even after receiving multiple remarks on his fitness due to his age, there has not been a single instance where he failed to prove himself with a comeback.

This attitude of his is something to take exam motivation from. Working for your passion and not settling for something just because it seems a more comfortable option is an inspirational life lesson.

In addition, being unaffected by the negativity of the outside world can surely come if you are sufficiently composed and positive from inside. He actually follows the lifelong learning quote, “keep calm and focus on your job”. His calmness helps him strategize better than most of the players on the field.

3. AB De Villiers

AB De Villiers is the perfect example of discipline, determination, and pushing one’s limit to a certain level that things seem to appear like magic at one point in time. He is a pro in swimming, hockey, football, rugby, cricket, badminton, and what not.

He is known as the 360-degree player on the cricket ground and can make any impossible shot look easy. Though the shot appears easy to the viewers’ eyes, we cannot even guess the hard work it takes to be a pro at it. AB De Villiers had a lot of injuries in his cricket career but none of them could ever stop him from getting a number of international records to his name.

The motivational thought here is: Even when things do not work out in your favor sometimes, still getting back like a pro is just what one, as an aspirant can learn. In addition, what you can learn is it is not impossible to master more than one skill at once.

4. Hardik Pandya

Very few of us know that Indian Premier League superstar Hardik Pandya failed in the 9th standard and used to play in local village tournaments to earn a measly four hundred rupees, and didn’t ever get the privileges many of the Indian cricketers get.

Yet he remained true to his passion and kept working hard to make his place in the Indian team and fulfill his dream. It is worth an inspirational life lesson to see how all you need is the passion to succeed.

While many of us look for excuses to convince ourselves that it’s not possible, the passionate ones look for opportunities and don’t wait for miracles to happen. Beneath his flashy Rockstar image, Hardik Pandya is also a very keen and fast learner. Talent can only provide you with short-term success if not combined with the eagerness to learn from your experience and know your own weakness and act upon them in time.

Though Hardik Pandya also got a lot of success in his initial innings, that did not stop his motivational thoughts or him from improving his game. Many of us often take our initial success as defining and do not keep up with our efforts to improve ourselves. What we must remember indeed is, we cannot compete with anyone else, unless we compete with ourselves first and become the best version of yourself.

5. Shane Watson

If Shane fails with the bat, he proves his talent with the ball. Whether with the bat or the ball, he is always in the game. It might look easy to have a plan B, to be an all-rounder, but it definitely is not. It is true that if you want to outrun your bad luck, you must have a plan B, but it would take twice the effort and hard work too.

In an interview while sharing his success story, once Shane said that he used to be transfixed about the results and that affected his performance in the match, then he realized that no one can control the results and can only give in one’s best.

This is one of the many life lessons learned by him and is what all of us should also learn. Worrying about the results and outcomes is only consuming our available bandwidth and time and is, in fact not worth the thinking. What we can control, though, is what we put in and whether it is the best we can do or not.

6. Rishabh Pant

Only 21 in age, hailing from a small town of Uttarakhand, Rishabh Pant proves that age is just a number if you want to follow your passion. There are no defined rules, age or boundaries as of when to start if you know where you are headed to.

Playing a number of marvelous innings for his team in IPL 2019 just after he had received a number of thrashings for his performance as a wicket keeper in the recent India-Australia tournaments, he showed that negative comments and reviews are only lifelong learning and can only help you improve and shape your game if you have the will to take them positively in your favor.

There has been an instance in the past, where India had an upcoming match and Rishabh Pant’s father expired but he still did not miss the match. It would have been tough for him, but he did not let even an event like this come in way of his working towards his goal, passion and building his success story.

He is an epitome of inspirational life lesson that if you have made your mind for something, you need to make every possible sacrifice and effort to achieve it because no opportunity knocks your door twice.

7. Kane Williamson

Playing with elegance and class, Kane Williamson is a player who performs very consistently. You would not see a lot of spikes in his performance graph and that is absolutely something that we can learn from him. Consistency is the key. Even when you are studying, irregular and undisciplined study sessions can seldom yield productive results.

Learning from mistakes is another great quality of this player. Even after his team loses very important math, he accepts the defeat so gracefully, only to learn from the mistakes they have committed and to rectify them later in upcoming matches. Also, even though Kane Williamson is known for his sound technical cricketing shots, that’s not what he is limited to.

As soon as t-20 format became popular, he learned and prepared himself to stay competitive in the new format as well. He quickly adapted to the new format and proved how well he can mold himself according to the changing environment.

The same goes for every one of us in our lives as well. If you see that you are weak in some areas and spot an opportunity in the same field, then you should work on that particular skill and grab that opportunity.

8. Dwayne Bravo

The all-rounder ‘DJ’ Bravo mentions in an interview that he cannot prefer a bat over the ball or vice versa, because on any given day, he does not know which one might win him the match. This tells us that versatility is no use until you master at all the traits that you own, else it is just, “jack of all trades, master of none”.

Do not move to the next exam or the next subject unless you have mastered the one you are currently working at. It is not bad to keep or work upon options but nit unless you master the one you have put your hand on, first.

Also, we have all, always seen Bravo all cheered up, entertaining and enjoying on the ground. We have seen him pulling off different dance moves, singing, cheering his team, boosting confidence and all forms of enjoyment. This is a great quality to learn from.

If you practice and work hard enough before, you can relax and enjoy on the judgment day. This is how it actually should be, opposed to what students generally do: Relaxing before the exam and stressing on the exam day.

9. Yuvraj Singh

The one army who would keep playing even after 9 wickets of his team have been lost is a classic example of, “you are not defeated until you decide so.” Even if the target is far and he is playing along, he would still play to win and not to finish the match.

Not only this, Yuvraj Singh has fought cancer for his life but even that could not distract him from his goal or get in his way. We often find vague excuses to blame for our failure, but the truth is nothing can come in way of our success until we let it. If you fight to win, you surely will!

10. Rashid Khan

The entire journey of this spinner from rags to riches, is a lesson itself for all of us to learn from. The player, who originally hails from Afghanistan, where cricket is not so popular, did not give up on his passion even after facing all the hurdles that came his way. He had lived in refugee camps during times of war, had to move to Pakistan for 5 years to take shelter due to disturbances in his own country, but nothing could stop him.

He would travel 40-50 km from his home to practice cricket on improperly furbished grounds. After a lot of struggle and hard work, his talent was recognized by Indian cricket board and that is when he could get the international fame that he holds today. Long story put short, hard work never goes in vain. Coming from a country that has no established cricket board by then, seeing no career, Rashid Khan still put all his efforts and hard work to make his dream come true and it did.

This is why whenever you think of giving up, just remember that all that you are putting in, all your hard work will definitely pay you back one day. It may not seem to work out right now, but it definitely will, someday!

There is a lot to learn from everyone and everything. What we need, though, is that urge to accept and mould ourselves according to the qualities and shortcomings of others that we can observe and learn from. Be it, cricketers, other sportsperson or even people around us, all of them have a lesson to teach, only if we are ready to learn.

Hope imbibing these qualities in yourself helps you positively to move closer to your goal. All the best!