Leadership Lessons from Cricket Field - Part 4: The Fractured Finger

The episode of Dropped catch was overpowered by the strong teamship by the team, which stood in solidarity behind me. The negative soul was shown the door for his arrogance. The individuals can win you few matches, but team support, when the need rises, saves from embarrassments. 

This was my final year in competitive cricket. Thou, I can say it now. At that point of time, I didn't knew it was my last year.

We succeeded in several matches, tournaments and uplifted our games to a very high level.

The cricket season ended. The summers started. The eastern part of North India get summers early. The district boards get the district league tournaments before the heavens start pouring. This is a tough period to be on the ground throughout the day. The sun literally suck your fluids, without using a straw. It is a time, when people get sick due to heat.

April 2003, the district league has started. Luckily, it was held in the stadium we used to practice, on the pitches made for Ranji Trophy, which eventually never happened there. It was a nearby ground, my home ground, stadium with some facilities, so it was easier for me to get to the ground from home and back.

The league was to be played on the middle turf covered by matting wicket.

I was playing my first match of what was going to be my last season. My position to bat was at number 4 that year. I was batting well after our openers were back to pavilion. I was conformably marching to first fifty of the season by any batsman, with 4 fours and a six. The scoreboard was not functional, so the scores were signaled to us by our teammates. I overheard some of our teammates discussing about my individual score. Few in favour of letting me know my score, so that I don't take risk and others to not tell, so that I won't get into pressure. Thou I knew my score. There is no better feeling in a teamsport, if you know the entire team is rooting for you. It was overwhelming to know that entire team wanted me to succeed.

That gesture by my team was what I earned through my teammanship over the years. I didn't complete the half century thou. But it was the highest score of the match, 39. I took 4 wickets, despite a bruise in my right leg. Good enough to see my name in next day's local version of national newspapers. We won, comfortably.

Next match, one of our mainstay batsmen fell sick. Which forced me to come at number 3. A position closed to my heart, because my favourite cricketer used to bat at that spot. The opponent bowlers were hostile and quick. Thou there were no signs of swing, their speed were electric. After facing the first few balls, when I came to bat after the first wicket fell, I got a hit on my middle finger of bottom hand (right hand), at the second last ball of an over. I ran for a run and completed it.

The hit was so bad, that after initial pain, my finger went numb. My partner took a run of last ball and played entire next over and took run of the last ball again.  Since some time has passed and I was not on strike since last few balls, waiting at the non-striker end, I just wanted to check what happened to my hand and opened up my gloves. The inner was little wet. I opened the inner gloves. A thick maroonish gel fell on the dusty patch beside the matting wickets crease. 

I saw my injured finger, skin completely torn and an unbearable pain started. Umpires suggested a retired hurt option, which I took, because after removing the gloves, I was not able to put it back and I was not able to hold the bat either.

Over the next few overs, my team's performance went wayward and we lost few wickets, despite being at comfortable position once. After the fall of 8th wicket, I, who still was padded up, decided to go in. The 11th number batsman questioned, but my captain answered, I was twice a good with bat one handed than him.

It was kind of morale booster for me. I added few more runs and a boundary to my team's as well as my score. We managed to post a respectable total. I eventually got out, caught at long off, trying to slog one handed six.

The things turned ugly, when the league officials didn't allowed a member from my team, who was not in 14, to field for me. Not only our batting mainstay, few more team members were sick that day.

My team took the ground with 10 players only, with me sitting outside to get some medications on my open wound. Only "handyplasts and Band aids" were available, which were unable to cover the entire opening of the wound, making it painful to place over it.

Few boundaries were hit by our opponents and it was difficult to manage with one less fielder.

I decided to take the field, despite my captain and teammates, asking me to stay back. When I took field, the claps and cheers from the spectators, few hundreds of them that day, gave me goosebumps.

In the spectator list, there was a player of my neighbour team, who in the next few days, was about to play with broken nose. I would like to believe, my gesture of taking ground with broken finger, inspired him. 

I was fielding the ball with left hand and body. Despite that I was able to run one of the batsman out, with relay throw, not common during those days..... We won.

What were the leadership lessons with these incidents? The gesture of the leader to encourage a teammate, to perform out of skin. Another gesture as a leader to put team member's health before anything else. These small gestures encourage team. Your leader is not there to just instruct or lead. A leader is their to support and protect too.

Not only I was inspired by my captain's gestures. In turn, my team got inspired with my little gestures, they made that respectable total look mammoth. 

That day is carved deeply into my memoirs, which inspires me when my chips are down. It make me fill with pride.