Who can forget this famous line by Rohit to Cheteshwar Pujara. A visibly animated Rohit gifted this gem to Pujara and was caught on the stump mic, when he wanted a quick single and Pujara refused to oblige, during a test match against South Africa.
Pujji as he is fondly called by his teammates, was arguably the best number three batsman in the Indian test cricket team post “Dravid -The Wall” era. It was natural for people to compare Pujji with his legendary predecessor due to his ability to keep batting for longer period of time.
He amassed 7000 plus runs with an average of 43 plus and was consistent while doing it for almost a decade, becoming our go-to man during clutch situations.
Considering his solid defence with the bat it wasn’t surprising that he was targeted by the opposition bowlers who invariably bowled him a bodyline to break him psychologically, which in turn resulted in him taking blows with balls shot at him with speeds in excess of 140km/hr, literally crushing his body, mind and soul.
To the unawares, a cricket ball striking you with the speed more than 140km/hr is equal to a hammer striking with full force on your body. But with each such blow that struck him, he dug deeper and became more resilient on the crease, he even dished out a smile at the bowler at times just to make him know that he needs to try lil more harder to get him. The next ball that he faced after the blow, was usually dispatched for a boundary, all with an air of arrogance.
More often than not, bowlers got exhausted bowling long spells but he never showed any signs of fatigue even after standing on the crease for days together taking one blow after the other.
On one such occasion, his post match pictures from dressing room were leaked in media, it narrated a traumatic story of his stay on the crease. It was during the famous gabba test that we had won. He had bruises, cuts and swelling all, unimaginable to a common man what he may have gone through while at the crease. Yet he never exhibited the pain while he was on pitch. He stood there like a valiant warrior in a cricketer’s uniform.
But after years of service to the Indian cricket team, last week when Pujara declared his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket, it didn’t come as a shock. Displeasure yes, but not a shock.
The man wasn’t picked up for selection in last two years. After proving time and again over the years what he could do, after proving his mettle, with his recent form in the domestic cricket, he was given a cold shoulder by the selectors, repeatedly.
His chips were down, not knowing what more he could offer to get in that dressing room. May be the system wasn’t on his side. May be he wasn’t as enterprising as his peers. Whatever the reason was, the results weren’t in pujji’s favour.
What was in his hands was to accept this and walkout with his chin up while keeping his pride still intact.
One still feels though, that the eight highest Indian test scorer definitely deserved a farewell, a respectful closure to expect the least. Or so we feel.
But the phrase “respectful closure” seems like an alien to BCCI. This institute does not believe in such “menial” gestures. We’ve noticed this in past with stalwarts like VVS, Zaheer, Ashwin, Raina, Bhajji, Shikhar and many more. They gave their blood and sweat to the team but a few bad games and they were dropped like they never existed. Ignored by the management, selectors and coaches alike for long periods, ultimately resulting into a forced retirement with no hope for a comeback.
Facing the same fate, finally, Pujji bhaga bh***d!! He ran not from the field but from the narrow visioned and ungrateful board he served for years. He ran to finally close one chapter and start another one, knowing the call from the management was now just a futile dream.
No floral farewells, no glorious goodbyes whatsoever. Just Pujji and his tweet.
This situation leads me to a question. Do such off field blows hurt more than the ones taken on the field? Only he who faces them can tell I guess. One thing is for sure, to face such a situation one’s mental stealth plays a huge part. The kind of stealth they practised on field over the years.
To take each blow with an air of arrogance and may be dish out a smile. No pain displayed, no scars flaunted. And when it’s all over, they just walk out knowing they did their part when it counted the most.
Like these cricketers many of us, who aren’t from the cricketing world, face such situations at times.
Month after month, year after year we give it all to the place we work at. We put everything on line for our enterprises, our firms only to realise one day that our visions and our dreams are sidelined or ignored when it mattered the most, by the very institution and people we bled for over the years.
At that point in our lives we find ourselves questioning every decision we made that led us where we stand currently.
At this precise time
Pause. Pause and use the same mental toughness you showed over the years when you took those blows. Show the mental toughness with which you achieved everything over the years. Be brave enough to walk.
Walk not because you are weak but walk because the narrowness of the vision of the firm probably isn’t helping you in the growth. On the contrary it may just bring self doubt. And while you do that, do not wait for a “grand closure” or “thank you farewell”.
Walk. Just walk, with your chin up while you dish out a smile.
