Fair Play Or Losing a Match: What Would you Prefer?
Hey guys, it’s me back again with another blog. Today I am going to write about something positive – sportsmanship in cricket. Today’s blog would be a relatively short one. In this blog I will share two of my favorite examples of sportsmanship in cricket.
Sportsmanship is a generous & honest behavior or treatment for others. From consoling others, to admitting your mistakes. It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, the thing that matters is how you win or lose. We should win with integrity & honesty
Not all great players are great sportsmen. Say Steve Smith & David Warner. Two of cricket’s best batsmen who were caught tampering the ball to get reverse swing. This incident put a dent on their career & people’s perception changed about them.
Sportsman ship is a great value which needs to be portrayed in all sports. To promote sportsmanship ICC has an award on sportsmanship with a grand prize money. This award has mostly been won by New Zealand. Fair play award is also there in big events like the world cup & the IPL.
Cricket is a gentlemen’s game. It has had quite a lot of controversial moments but let’s look at the positive side of it & see good examples of sportsmanship in cricket.
Daniel Vettori admits his mistake
In the 2005 tri series between India, New Zealand & Zimbabwe’s inaugural match, Daniel Vettori requested the umpire to call back Zimbabwe’s Regis Chikabva. This is because when Daniel Vettori went in his follow through he crashed with Regis Chikabva. He fell down & was having difficulty getting up. He had no chance of reaching back in the crease as his partner had already completed the run. Soon the keeper got the ball & whipped the bails off. Unfortunate Regis Chikabva was declared out. Daniel Vettori immediately requested the umpire to withdraw the decision as it was his fault. The umpire readily agreed to overturn the decision. This is called the sportsmanship in cricket. Admittance of mistakes. This was a great example portrayed by Daniel Vettori.
Sachin walks back
In the 2011 world cup, India vs West Indies we saw an instance of true sportsmanship. Ravi Rampaul was bowling to Sachin. He started off with a bouncer & the ball brushed past Sachin’s glove & went straight to the keeper. The umpire was perplexed & was not sure whether to raise his finger, but Sachin walked back showing that he was out. Event though his going back could have changed the course of the game’ he decided it is more important to be a good sportsman rather than being a good player.
Through the above examples we saw that there are a lot of great sportsman in the world. Daniel Vettori & Sachin Tendulkar’s actions could have changed the course of the game, but they decided to play fair. That is commendable.
So, guys today’s blog was all about sportsmanship in cricket. I hope you all were inspired & got to know about some instances of sportsmanship in cricket. What is your favorite instance of sportsmanship in cricket? Fair play or losing: What will you prefer?