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Play as late as possible!

By Bamboo In The Wind

Virat Kohli, the legendary Indian cricket player, is out of his batting form.   Virat is expected to break all batting records by the time he retires. And yet, he is struggling at the moment!

Virat has an impeccable record as an India captain in home and away games. After years of playing in T20, one-dayer and five-dayer formats while maintaining a very high standard of fitness and consistently topping the worldwide run charts, he has finally run into a lean patch. He is not among the runs for the last couple of years. So much so that his place on the team is wobbly. Unbelievable for someone of his stature!

We repeatedly see such examples in high-performing professions where the prime-time performance dwindles over time. It's never the case that the hunger for performing well is any less.

While popularity and attention from success can affect your urge to perform well, overexposure to the monotony of activities can affect your technique.

Just a little. You don't even notice that something has changed. But it does, and you are off your tracks.

All hell breaks loose. You are clueless. Stumped.

What do you do then? Keep trying everything in the book. Sure. Learn from replays. Absolutely. That works. That is part of the hard work and diligence that gets you to higher places.

But what about learning from the learned from other times and finding similarities in how some other people have overcome adverse situations after being on a streak for days, months and years together? How about using a bit of their wisdom? Occasionally?

One of the biggest reasons, according to cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar - the GOAT:

Cricket is always about instinctive action. You look to play every ball. Hit each one of them, in a bid to score runs. The trick to play in England is to play as late as possible. Then you let the ball do its bit, and then you are playing the ball.

Isn't that an incredible insight into every aspect of what we do?

Try playing as late as possible. See if that little extra time you get to witness how you do makes any difference.

You can change your stance, improve timing, training regimen, the basis for your decisions, or the composition of decision-makers. Or even take a break, as Virat thoughtfully showed where his priorities were. To come back replenished! 

There has got to be a reason why you are in this mess. You need to give everything time.

The solution might just be around the corner. Wait as late as you can, then play your shot!

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