Rahane overpowers Dhoni’s spectacular show as KKR wins by 6 wickets
A 2-month long cricket extravaganza began with the 15th edition of TATA IPL 2022 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. The festival of cricket brings in a lot of excitement and enthusiasm amongst the players as well the fans who witnessed the first match between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
KKR’s winning the toss and electing to bowl first was a no-brainer in front of the jubilant crowd at 25% capacity.
CSK began with a sluggish start by losing a quick wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad when the scoreboard had barely ticked 2 followed by another wicket of Devon Conway that went down at 28. Conway faced only 7 deliveries and contributed just 3 runs.
Robin Uthappa took control of the scoreboard and with some fantastic boundaries, he quickly contributed 28 runs in 21 deliveries. CSK seemed to be back in control of the match as the scoreboard kept ticking consistently. Ambati Riyadu and Shivam Dubey contributed 15 and 3 runs, respectively.
However, CSK’s picture looked gloomy yet again with 5 wickets down at 61. It was then the former skipper of CSK MS Dhoni and the current captain Ravinder Jadeja brought some life to the show. Dhoni demonstrated classic cricket and with some sensational shots, he hit the first 50 of the IPL 2022 in just 38 deliveries.
It seemed as if CSK would barely touch 110. Thanks to the 40-year-old Dhoni’s experience and positive mindset that they amassed a total score of 131 and set a decent target of 132 runs for the team KKR with 47 runs coming in the last 3 overs.
Jadeja’s only boundary came at the last ball as he finished his job with a fantastic six over the covers and helped his team accumulate a respectable score.
Bravo lived up to his name as he took 3 wickers by compromising only 20 runs in 4 overs.
Moin Ali missed the first match as his Visa got delayed due to certain set procedures that are followed for the players of Pakistan descent. His grandfather migrated to the UK from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir long ago and Moin is born in England and visits India frequently.
Kolkata Knight Riders, in the second part of the game, began with an aggressive start with Rahane playing some sensational shots and taking the lead from the beginning itself. Rahane who made his debut with KKR just delivered what was expected out of him. He scored 44 in 34 deliveries before getting caught by Jadeja and bowled by Santner.
Prior to that KKR had already lost 2 wickets but remained in control of the match.
Six-footer Venkatesh Iyer scored 16 in 16 balls whereas Nitish Rana contributed 21 runs in 17 deliveries.
When Billings and Shreyas were playing at 18 and 11 respectively, KKR needed 18 runs in 22 balls to win with 7 wickets in hand. Soon Billings was dismissed and replaced by Jackson. The partnership of Shreyas and Jackson took the team to victory with the former hitting a boundary to close the match as a winner.
One team won, another lost. However, we as individuals, professionals, and entrepreneurs have a lot to take home from this match.
Every sport teaches us some fantastic life lessons. Let us, therefore, take a look at what we could learn from this match.
1. Retain customers as you retain the wickets
“It takes months to find a customer and only seconds to lose one”.
Cricket is all about scoring the runs while retaining the wickets as it is in business; bringing in new clients while retaining the old.
Customer retention is a repeat business that comes without much effort. You retain them by being accountable just like playing cricket responsibly on the ground. When you play with responsibility, you not only add up to the scoreboard but you also help in retaining your wickets that bring you an edge.
You play the game confidently with the additional wickets at hand, just like you feel self-assured with the willingness of your existing clients to continue with you for another year.
Therefore, always play your shots responsibly and with extra care to ensure that you not only score well but capitalize on the backup of your wickets.
2. Have experienced players in your team
“Experience matters much but realization of how to express it matters much more than that”.
- Nisarga T. Darya
If CSK could gather a respectable score of 131 runs against KKR, it was primarily because of Dhoni’s experience that helped him weather the bowling attack of the latter team at a stage when they were reeling under the pressure.
His calm and experienced mind helped him sail through the situation and play some fantastic shots to not only make a half-century but also earn a reasonably good score to fight back.
It is your experienced team members who help you at the critical stage because they have been through such situations before.
3. Never give up till the end
“Life isn’t finding shelter in the storm. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
- Sherrilyn Kenyon
This is one gorgeous quality that every sport builds in most sportspersons. They simply don’t know how to give up in life.
You may or may not be a sportsperson but you can always learn from the sport that no matter how difficult the situation is, how frustrated you may be, never give up. All that you need at that time is self-motivation and encouragement.
At one stage it seemed as if CSK would end up touching only 105 runs. However, with their determination and grit, they earned a respectable score by proving that they deserved much more.
So, stay focused on your goals and look for the solutions instead of crying over the challenges by channelizing your energies in the right direction.
Learn to dance in the rain instead of finding shelter in the storm.
4. Practice risk-taking dives
“You will never reach your true potential living life in comfort and routine. You’ve got to take some risks”.
-Kylie Francis
In one of the instances or two, CSK players missed some fantastic catches. Why? Simply because their players hadn’t practiced diving on the ground.
Diving in cricket is as vital as it is in swimming – “unacceptable”.
In a sport such as Badminton, diving has never been the part and parcel of the game. However, in recent years, as the game advanced after the change of the format, diving for a shuttle has become an added advantage. Some players have, therefore, eradicated the myth that once you dived for a shuttle, it was impossible to return for the next one.
It works well.
In cricket, it is a part and parcel of the sport.
However, preparing yourself to take a dive is equally vital in life, too.
5. Dominate
“Never make it your goal to compete. Instead, do everything you can to dominate your sector in order to avoid spending your time chasing someone”.
- Grand Cardone
The level of seriousness of your response to your competition is what defines the level of your game.
Get aggressive and dominate the game of business or cricket from the start. Don’t plan to chase, plan to dominate which will change your mindset completely.
It may seem viable to chase a score at a time but having a mindset to dominate the game will boost your confidence and bring in enthusiasm. This kind of attitude would turn out to be the real game-changer.
KKR dominated the game from the beginning and the outcome obviously had to be positive. Their body language spoke it all and they put CSK in a defensive situation. They didn’t think of playing safe and hence avoided a disaster.
Finally, the classy vintage shots of MS Dhoni fell short of Rahane’s modern aggressive strokes as KKR won by 6 wickets.