Because Cricket Is the Greatest Teacher and Leveler!

Because Cricket Is the Greatest Teacher and Leveler

People often ask why I love cricket? Why it means so much more to me than just a sport.

My answer never changes: because cricket is the greatest teacher and leveler.

Every lesson of resilience, humility, teamwork, leadership that I’ve learned in over four decades of being associated with this game: first as a player for well over two decades, now as a selector, and hopefully someday as a coach, has come from this wonderful game. No sport writes better fairy tales or teaches grace in victory and composure in defeat like cricket.

It’s the one game that truly equalizes. It demands physical and mental toughness, but unlike football or rugby, where power and physical stature often dictate success, cricket allows skill, temperament, and timing to triumph over size and strength. A 155 cm batter can make a 190 cm bowler almost double their size, look helpless. The mind is the ultimate weapon. It is where calmness, adaptability, and timing decide who wins.

Yesterday, the world saw that truth.

From a country where the birth of a daughter was once met with silence, emerged a team that rewrote history. India’s women beat the mighty Australians in the semi-finals and then the valiant South Africans in the finals, to become World Champions. From a nation where girls are told to stay within boundaries even today, has come a team, that has broken them all.

They proved that strength isn’t measured in muscles or decibels, it’s measured in heart. Courage can be quiet, resilient and even invisible until truly tested, where self belief is the strongest muscle them of all.

And what better sub-plot to the whole story than the coach, Amol Muzumdar who in his prime was a goliath of the game in the domestic circuit, with over 11 000 first-class runs, never got given an India cap? This was his moment too, for hardly any of his peers probably ever got their arounds around a world cup trophy.

And then there was Shafali Verma, initially not picked in the side, chilling at home, egging her other team mates on, getting a last minute call to play the semi final and final, because Pratika Rawal the Indian opener was ruled out for the last two games due to injury. 

Cricket humbles the mighty, exalts the humble, and reminds us that the only thing truly out of reach is the one we stop reaching for.

So when people ask again, “Why cricket?”

The answer is simple - Because cricket is the greatest teacher and leveler.

#Cricket #TeamIndia #WorldChampions #WomenInSports #Leadership #Inspiration

Lord’s: The Home of Cricket and England’s Greatest Sporting Legacy

Given all the debate, there is, especially in India, on why it should not be only Lords that should host the finals of the World Test Championship, I make this humble submission as a fan of many things English. 

There are many places in the world where cricket is played, but none quite like Lord’s. It isn’t just a stadium—it’s a shrine. A cathedral of sport. For generations, the hallowed turf of Lord’s has hosted the game at its purest and most dignified. If cricket is a gentleman’s game, then this is where its soul resides.

The English can be credited with a few lasting contributions to the world: the English language, the tradition of afternoon tea, a certain cultural elegance—and, of course, the game of cricket. For those who may scoff at that statement, I say this: give up your shirts, trousers, jackets, and ties first. Much of the modern world still leans on the very legacy many are quick to critique.

To call the British heartless conquerors is, in my view, a convenient oversimplification. Many rulers from the land that was ancient India spent huge reserves of their courage and energy fighting amongst themselves. Don’t take my word for it — read up on the Marathas and their sweeping campaigns all the way to Bengal. Plunder and conquest were not unfamiliar themes in India's own history. If anything, the British were guilty of "Thinking BIG" — perhaps more bolder and certainly more conniving — than anyone else of their time. But I digress.

In my opinion, cricket, football, and rugby stand as the greatest sporting contributions the British have made to the world. These aren’t just games — they are metaphors for life: strategy, endurance, community, and passion. Football and Rugby were designed for winter’s grit and grind. One was for the gentleman, the other for the hooligan, one is told. Though these days, given the fan following and how the sport is actually played, you could be forgiven for wondering which was for who.

But cricket — ah, cricket — was made for summer. For long shadows on emerald lawns, for drifting clouds and lazy afternoons, punctuated by the polite clap of a sun-hatted crowd. It is a game that allows the world to slow down and observe grace in motion.

And nowhere captures the soul of summer cricket better than Lord’s. From the iconic red-brick Pavilion to the quirky slope of the pitch, from the hushed reverence of the Long Room to the rising cheer of the crowd—it is not merely a cricket ground. It is history. It is memory. It is ritual. It is beauty—layered over centuries, and still unfolding.

Lord’s is not just the home of cricket. It is where the spirit of the game lives, breathes, and belongs, now and forever!