Two days back India won its test match against a new minnow (West Indies). What is so special about it? The fact that MS Dhoni won his 15th test match as a captain and puts him few notches ahead of other captains? Or Rahul Dravid helping the country win one more test match? This was just the starting point of my thoughts. Just like a photograph triggered a blog of mine relating to MS Dhoni.
Rahul starred in the 54th test win for India (second only to Sachin with 61 wins). In test matches he now has 32 centuries (again second only to Sachin), with 12,192 runs he is a leading run getter for India in tests (second only to Sachin). He also has the third highest number of double centuries.
He is only one of the 2 batsmen to have scored more than 10K runs in both Tests and ODIs. He has 2nd highest number of centuries in tests + ODIs. In ODIs also he has starred in second highest number of wins for the country.
Rahul is a perfect example of a team player, who has kept wickets in ODIs to help the team play 7 batsmen. Opened the innings at various points in time, because we didn’t have 2 openers who were good enough. A selfless guy, media shy (Sachin is not), extremely low profile gentleman with no controversies (Sachin was involved in ball tampering case), Rahul is the perfect role model for my parents and me.
The issue is that all the records seem to suggest that he is the second best. Oh, just pulled out some data on his being the best. In tests he has the highest partnership runs in the world. Another example of a team player? For India, he has the highest century partnerships (19) with a single player. God! Oh yes, once again it is the God (aka Sachin) starring in this record. Found something that he doesn’t share with Sachin. Highest number of triple century partnerships by any single player in tests (4) and ODIs (2) for India. Maybe this record is just insignificant.
So, what is this blog about? Rahul suffers from the curse of being Second. He has the misfortune of being born in the same era as Sachin. Very much like Gundappa Vishwanath suffered from, after being in the same era as Sunny Gavaskar.
Let me ask, do you remember the guy who scaled Mount Everest second? Or the second person to have set foot on the moon? Oh gosh, I don’t even remember the name of the US Vice President. For that matter will struggle to recall India’s Vice President’s name. Do you remember who was the second President of India? Such kind of answers are expected to be known by some GK whiz kid, and normal public like you and me, don’t even bother to know these. It just doesn’t matter to us who is second. From my childhood, I was asked to be in the company of the student who stood first in class (though I was distantly away in terms of rank with that kid). Now all of this and more, leaves me with a question – Is coming second in life that bad?
In no way, can you undermine the efforts of the person who has come second. Unless the difference between first and second is huge, the preparation and perspiration put in by the top slot holders is not very different. It is just the extra streak of luck that favours an individual coming “First”. Can you relate to the parents’ “Oh no, just missed it” look when they see their child coming second? Hope you have read my blog "Twists and turns are part of life and not just cricket".
As a society, we’ve been bred to emulate no one but the topper, the person who is the best. But Best, in terms of results, and not the amount of efforts and application put. So what if you went an extra mile for preparations, if your results do not show it, you are surely not someone to be looked up to. For that matter, we don’t even care if the person coming second has excelled in various other tasks. If you cannot master “a” particular task, you are just not “the one”.
Some personal experiences and a lot of thoughts do make me acknowledge the efforts put in by people who end up “second”. I offer my respect and good wishes to all the energies spent in trying to conquer the top slot, but somewhere the things couldn’t work out.
So, let’s learn to applaud the second best! Be different, from now!
PS: You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.
Very well written. Great thought articulated masterfully. I have been ardent Dravid follower since begining. His persona & conduct are exemplary. Its jus that he doesnt have the PR efforts of a Sachin or Saurav. But still he has been a true role model.
ReplyDeletewell written and on a great topic. I appreciate your thoughts but i disagree with u on your thought of ball tampering by Sachin.... he is a great guy not involved in any controversies yet, despite being in the most limelight.you can clearly notice that he was clearing the mud from the ball not tampering the ball how can one think of him doing such a thing.
ReplyDelete