In recent times, there has been a lot of talk about Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide. The on-screen MS Dhoni shocked the world with his sudden decision to end his life. While people blamed depression and his lack of success, he will always be remembered as the on-screen MS Dhoni. The world was shocked and sad at the same time. No one understood why Sushant did what he did. A good, hard-working young actor was lost to the pressures of life and its cruel reality.
The cricketing world reminded us that there is always a winner in each of us. Here is another perspective on how to get over depression and the story of a winner.
This is the amazing story of Sri Lankan cricketer Marvan Atapattu and his endless will to prove himself. Not everyone has this fighting spirit and the will to go on that this man showed. It is just an amazing story that Harsha Bhogle loves to tell. He does so over and over again. Never to be forgotten.
The First Heartbreak
The story starts off with a big-time heartbreak. Making his debut in Test cricket for Sri Lanka, Marvan scored a duck in his first innings. To add to that, he did the same in his second innings. Shocking, when you think of the player and his class now.
The eventual result? They obviously dropped him. So the young man back then decided to go back to the nets for more practice. He did not give up. More first-class cricket was the order of the day. More runs and he got them, as he waited for that elusive call. It never came.
The Failures That Followed
Not for twenty-odd months at least. Eventually, after twenty-one months, he got a second chance. Second time lucky? Maybe not. This time, he went back and tried even harder. His scores read as 0 in the first innings and 1 in the second. Dropped again.
Imagine the horror. He went back to the grind, yet again. Probably more disappointed as before. Surely understandable. Dejection was the mood of the day. However, he never gave up. Not before, not then.
Marvan scored tonnes of runs in first-class cricket this time. Despite that, these runs were never going to be enough. They would not be able to erase the painful memories of the Test failures. However, waiting was the only option that he had.
Another year passed him by. Seventeen months later, opportunity knocked yet again. Marvan got a chance to bat in both innings of the Test. His scores, yet again 0 and 0. Wow! He was making a habit of this now. Can you imagine? They say that the third time is lucky. Not for Marvan!!
Once again, he went back to the grind. Would there be any more chances? The top-cricketers and Pundits said that he lacked big-match temperament. Rightly so, till that point of time. He had been a huge disappointment and the numbers showed.
His technique was questioned and said it was not good enough at the highest level. Despite all the remarks, Marvan kept trying. A hopeful fourth chance that might have never come.
Not An MS Dhoni Story
Three years later, he got yet another chance. This time, he finally managed to make runs. He came good and the critics got silenced. From there on after, Marvan went on to score over 5000 runs for Sri Lanka. It included a tally of sixteen centuries and six double hundreds. Believe that!!
He went on to be the captain of his country. Rightly so? All this despite the fact that it took him over six years to score his second run in Test cricket. Six years. How many guys can say that they did? How many guys can say that they did not give up? Not too many. Wow! What a guy!
Come to think of it as the biggest downfalls in the world of cricket. Can there be a bigger one? Not a chance. We all tend to fight for days, weeks and months. At most, our struggles go on for a year. Then what? Suicide?
He was no MS Dhoni, but Marvan and people like Marvan prove otherwise. He surely would have been tempted at least once to pursue another career or play another game. Even go back and only play county cricket. Or just sit at home or find a job. Be upset and be depressed. His attitude is what made the difference.
The next time you want to crib about failure or rejection, think of Marvan. Think of the cricketer and the captain. Of what he did for Sri Lankan Cricket and how he became an indispensable part of the team. Think of legends of the game like MS Dhoni. Whether the game tags Marvan a legend or not, he is a legend in life!! Cheers!!
