Emmanuel, a man from Iran, actually he represented Iran in two Olympics. In which event? Boxing. For which medal? No medals. Only to lose in first rounds each time.What so special? Nothing as a boxer.
But the man is special to the world.
He left Iran, moved to the USA, became a tennis coach. He had four children. Three of them were described by him as Guinea pigs or useless or Not Special as he was by then.
He was too much strict or "violent" in his methods as coach.
All the weight of his disappointing career as a boxer, on his heart, he laid on the shoulders his fourth child.
The boy had some serious talent. At the mere age of 9, he defeated John Brown, NFL legend, for the bet his father has made (Initially of $10000).
The boy was named Andre.
Andre Kirk Agassi- enough said to prove the man special.
Not making any comparisons only drawing a little obvious similarity, I have another example to cite of a sportsman with hopeless results.
He had managed to play only one test match for his nation and a few ODIs.
But no one knew him whatsoever.
All his disappointment and self-dejection he earned through his failure as a cricketer kept on torturing him forever. There he pampered in that dreary heart, a notion, only hopes for his redemption that his son would prove the world, one day, how much his blood had the warmth, the passion, the zeal, the fight and the cricket.
Indeed his blood had something for sports.
His son was interested in tennis and skating, naturally. He won a gold medal in some U14 event and was good on the court too.
"You will only play cricket from here on", were the harsh words in a strict nay "violent" manner when the kid displayed the medal to his father expecting some words of appreciation and encouragement. He threw the medal out of the car, from his neck, he was driving then. The boy must bear the load of the expectations of his father.He must free him from the hovering specter of his cursed past. His name in itself reflected the hopes of the man he had in the boy from his very day. He titled him accordingly, as Yuvraaj: the successor of his dreams, trustee of his hopes.
As the man liked he lifted the cricket bat. He played cricket to his satisfaction, to his delight, to his absolution, to his redemption and his pride. He played to the world's surprise and applause. He played to the glory of the nation.
He turned the man special.
He was not just good. He was phenomenal - startling in his batting, such ease and class he possessed in his shots - electric in his fielding - handy in his slow left arm orthodox bowling - killing in his approach and extraordinary in moments of need.
He guided the U-19 squad to world cup win with his remarkable performances both with bat and ball.
He was not yet 19 and the confidence and prowess he displayed (in his 2nd ODI) against the likes of all-time great McGrath and not any mean Brett Lee and Jason Gillespi when he got a chance to play in national colors in 2000 champions trophy.
He crushed the scary Australian attack in his 84 run inning just from 80.It might seem now to be an okay performance for The Yuvraj Singh but at that age, with no experience of international cricket, in an ICC tournament very frequently talked as mini world cup, and against that attack, it was not just impressive much more than that.
He was dropped from the team, made impressive comebacks, many a timesmany a time helped India to win by his contrmany a time single-handedly.
There are many highlights of his career. Carrier defining NatWest ODI at Lords, then in the 2005-06 he established
himself as an explosive but reliable batsman. He was one of the best finishers of the world who believed he could win every ODI as VVS Laxman told about him.
He approved his supreme authority in the limited over cricket in that period.
The audience loved to watch him more than anyone else if it is not Sachin Tendulkar himself. There was always a huge excitement in the heads of bowlers and in the audiences whenever he would take guard. When in touch he would deal only in sixes. Cricket balls would love to get hit by him all around the ground. His punches through covers always treated to watch. He threatened every bowler to death there in the circuit.He could hit the ball as clean and as long as it could be hit. He could be as brutal and as effortless at the same time. There were some questions about his ability to play spin and on his focus in the early stage of his career. His vulnerability against spin was nowhere to see, questions on his commitment and focus were subsequently brushed off.
There were some nearly impossible feats he achieved in the time coming next. The 2007 world T20, as a new format was created and approved by limiting the no of overs to 20, he surpassed his limits or any other ever established. Record books were to be written again.
And then in 2011, he did what the nation was expecting from every single player, since last 28 years, whoever was chosen to represent the tricolor. He was the man of the tournament for his huge contributions both from bat and ball.
But soon after he faced a thunderclap from the fate. He was diagnosed with cancer and the roads of life became rough and tough. He made a comeback very soon to take his duties in the team. But everything was not same a lot had changed. He performed and no one could have any doubt on his abilities. He regained his fitness through a stint in France.He came back as thin and as active as ever but much more experienced, much more strong.
T20 match was the second comeback for Yuvraj. It looked like a Himalayan task to chase down 202 in 20 overs and after losing three important wickets, things got spiced up. Yuvraj arrived at the crease and was expected to proceed with the huge run chase, a job that he had done many times in the past in ODIs. Yuvraj slammed 77 off 35 balls while Dhoni supported him with a 21-ball 24.
The target at one stage was looking impossible but so brutal was the response of Yuvraj that the role of Dhoni was reduced to rotating strike only. He couldn't do much before those monstrous hits.
He was not evaluated enough to be in the probable 30s.(and you shouldn't look at the names who made it).
Hilarious!
The man of the tournament in the previous event of such importance where generally It is the experience alone that creates a deciding difference.
But someone didn't want him to be in his team.
The team that couldn't be imagined without him, the team in which he is as permanent and as important as the star on the cap of every player, do not need him: It has some even bigger, important stars to care. The team that he had served since teenage, preserved through the times of transformations, after seniors had left the dressing room to his care, dutifully and selflessly.
It now contained some new best finisher, to take his place. They were never a contender without him and lost in semifinals to the team he had dismissed as nothing every now and then.
World T20 followed in next year, the biggest player of that specific format was not considered good enough to represent his country even when he was destroying the juniors in the domestic circuit.
He matters when it matters most.
Yuvraj Singh, everyone knows his abilities to perform unbelievably well in moments of need. It doesn't matter to him if the run rate is going to ask him to score double a ball or half a ball. He never holds himself back and always loves to go big. It comes naturally to him, we can say it is his playing style.
It can be seen that hitting a ball to the fence is much easier for him than taking the pain in finding the gap and placing the ball.
We can never exaggerate Yuvraj Singh, his heroics, his brutal hitting, his fight.
One who has followed the game of cricket over these years, who has seen the man doing impossibles, tattering the great bowling reputations with his bat, shattering the unimaginable records with ease and most importantly fetching the results for his side, in doing all this, must know this. One who has not been blinded by the lens of stats and figures he has under his name(they will never tell you truth about the man as he never cared about them)must know this.
How can one exaggerate, in any words, the 50 of 12?
Even Stuart Board can't make it sound larger than it was really was. The every hit he endured on his heart was giving throwing the crowd to raptures, except some true hard English supporters, and amazement.
God forgive Flintoff for being so indifferent of the abilities of the man he quibbled with.
A young promising English speedster making his waves all around the cricket world as the future of the game was taken up to the task by the cleanest and most brutal hitter of the game. He wrecked him completely in mere six deliveries. He stamped his expertise, It is his forte.
That was a masterclass. Words will always fail disappointingly in their attempts to describe it.
He had failed in first few games of that world cup. He came to bat when it was pretty much over from that inning. But, then what he did matters to the whole world till now. And he did it when it mattered the most to his team as it was the crucial match to win.
In the next match, he played, against the mighty Australians, he played a havoc with the at, 70 of 30 balls: cruel hitting. In semifinals.
Can it be exaggerated?
He had done so in NatWest, one of the greatest victories of all time in cricket. To the one who was blessed enough to witness that contest of bat and ball which inevitably turned into the contest of egos and reputations and ultimately to the pride of nations can tell how important was his contribution.Anything about that match is hard to explain in words in there pure form, let alone the exaggerations.
What he did to bring the world cup, despite of that life threatening cancerous tumour and it was a big tumor pressing against his artery actually squeezing it, is inspiring but inimitable: Impossible. He was constantly breathless,he couldn't sleep and he was winning matches for India and for that man of the matches.
Doctors told him later that he would have died of a heart attack.
These daredevil efforts can't be exaggerated.
Coughing constantly, not eating much and vomiting blood, had you seen this lion hearted champ in the ground during world cup? He was not 100% physically but he was 200% there intentionally and fighting. He was putting everything in bowling, batting, fielding for his nation, for the crowd there, going crazy chanting his name, for the love for the game, and for the promises he had made to the God of the game and for the pride of his father.
He showed the world how much his blood has the passion, the zeal, the fight and the cricket.
He was declared Man of the Tournament.
Can this fight be exaggerated?
When the stakes are high and situations get hopeless and things has gone much beyond the devised human excuses and defined human limits;only thing that matters is if you can or not.
When these question are truely imposing, the answer is Yuvi can.
When he was not considering himself to play in a match in the world cup these were the words of motivation from the Great Sachin Tendulker and that define the man in its purest form.
"You will matter when it will matter the most. "
He loves big stages to perform and need them to roar again on the international platform. He needn't to prove his abilities, he had done so innumerable times.
We can never exaggerate Yuvraj Singh, his heroics, his brutal hitting, his fight.
One who has followed the game of cricket over these years, who has seen the man doing impossibles, tattering the great bowling reputations with his bat, shattering the unimaginable records with ease and most importantly fetching the results for his side, in doing all this, must know this. One who has not been blinded by the lens of stats and figures he has under his name(they will never tell you truth about the man as he never cared about them)must know this.
How can one exaggerate, in any words, the 50 of 12?
Even Stuart Board can't make it sound larger than it was really was. The every hit he endured on his heart was giving throwing the crowd to raptures, except some true hard English supporters, and amazement.
God forgive Flintoff for being so indifferent of the abilities of the man he quibbled with.
A young promising English speedster making his waves all around the cricket world as the future of the game was taken up to the task by the cleanest and most brutal hitter of the game. He wrecked him completely in mere six deliveries. He stamped his expertise, It is his forte.
That was a masterclass. Words will always fail disappointingly in their attempts to describe it.
He had failed in first few games of that world cup. He came to bat when it was pretty much over from that inning. But, then what he did matters to the whole world till now. And he did it when it mattered the most to his team as it was the crucial match to win.
In the next match, he played, against the mighty Australians, he played a havoc with the at, 70 of 30 balls: cruel hitting. In semifinals.
Can it be exaggerated?
He had done so in NatWest, one of the greatest victories of all time in cricket. To the one who was blessed enough to witness that contest of bat and ball which inevitably turned into the contest of egos and reputations and ultimately to the pride of nations can tell how important was his contribution.Anything about that match is hard to explain in words in there pure form, let alone the exaggerations.
What he did to bring the world cup, despite of that life threatening cancerous tumour and it was a big tumor pressing against his artery actually squeezing it, is inspiring but inimitable: Impossible. He was constantly breathless,he couldn't sleep and he was winning matches for India and for that man of the matches.
Doctors told him later that he would have died of a heart attack.
These daredevil efforts can't be exaggerated.
Coughing constantly, not eating much and vomiting blood, had you seen this lion hearted champ in the ground during world cup? He was not 100% physically but he was 200% there intentionally and fighting. He was putting everything in bowling, batting, fielding for his nation, for the crowd there, going crazy chanting his name, for the love for the game, and for the promises he had made to the God of the game and for the pride of his father.
He showed the world how much his blood has the passion, the zeal, the fight and the cricket.
He was declared Man of the Tournament.
Can this fight be exaggerated?
When the stakes are high and situations get hopeless and things has gone much beyond the devised human excuses and defined human limits;only thing that matters is if you can or not.
When these question are truely imposing, the answer is Yuvi can.
When he was not considering himself to play in a match in the world cup these were the words of motivation from the Great Sachin Tendulker and that define the man in its purest form.
"You will matter when it will matter the most. "
He loves big stages to perform and need them to roar again on the international platform. He needn't to prove his abilities, he had done so innumerable times.
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