I looked around. I felt as if I was in a cauldron. I could feel the pressure. A deafening noise had engulfed the stadium. My heartbeat, though, was louder. I could hear people rooting for me. 6 balls to go, 8 runs to score, 3 wickets remaining. Those 3 wickets and those 8 runs were going to be the difference between mortality and immortality for me. Which way was the ‘Butterfly’ going to flap its wings this time?
This defining moment was not even a remote possibility few overs ago. With the opposition needing 45 to win off the last 6 overs, I ended up conceding 20 runs in the 15th over of the innings. The momentum had changed and the game had started to slip away. A feeling of guilt had started to set in. A beautiful dream was going to be shattered. From that moment till the 19th over, I quietly kept fielding at the boundary. The ship was sinking, but somehow we had hung on and the match went into the 20th over.
My captain was obviously not sure who would be the best person to turn to. When I was least expecting it, he turned towards me and threw the ball into my hands. I was stunned. I thought-“what is this man doing! I have already gone for so many runs, and he wants me to bowl the last over. If I get hit again, this would be the end of my career and his captaincy”. My thoughts were interrupted as he walked up to me-“I know you got hit today, but I also know that you are the best out there. I have immense belief in you, now go and show the world that you have that champion in you”. Some faith he had in me!
So it was that ‘faith’ got me started. A shaken I needed more though. That ‘more’ came from the crowd. The crowd vociferously started chanting my name. It was the best feeling ‘yet’ in my life. I knew God had given me that one chance to redeem myself. Not every day you get the support of the people who matter to you.
I ran in and delivered my first ball. Bang! It went right over my head to the boundary. Ah! That sinking feeling! The loser inside me wanted to conquer me. But the ‘Butterfly’ had other plans. My captain and my crowd had done enough to ignite my ‘self-belief’. I was not going to give up. Not this time.
I ran in for my second delivery. Bang! It was hit hard. That was going to be all over, or so I thought till the diving fielder intercepted the ball inside the circle. It could have been all over right there. I could have been the biggest villain in tomorrow’s newspapers. It could have become my last delivery in an international match. Not to be though. No matter what you do in life, you need some luck to back up your efforts, and the ‘Butterfly’ had given me that iota of luck. My team mate had saved the boundary.
I knew this was the last straw from the ‘Butterfly’. Within a span of few minutes, it had given me ‘faith’, ‘support’, ‘belief’ and ‘luck’. There was a lot that could have gone wrong for me. My captain could have chosen someone else to bowl the final over, the crowd could have hooted me for my performance till then, I could have felt demoralised after the first boundary. The fielder might have missed the ball in his dive. None of these actually happened. I knew this had to turn into my day.
Three balls later, I stood there with my arms outstretched. My team mates jumped over me. There were huge celebrations as firecrackers went off in the stadium. Who would have thought that someone would take a hat-trick in the last over of a World Cup Final! That ‘someone’, who could have easily been the evil, had been transformed into a Demi-God. That feeling, of lying in the middle of the cricket ground, tired like hell, completely sapped of energy, mentally numb, and VICTORIOUS, was an unmatched feeling.
If you try to feel the path to that magical moment the way I have described, you will also be able to feel the sense of insecurity that lay at every step. The Butterfly Effect of life could have been exactly the opposite. The day could have ended on the worst possible note. What if the worst had happened that day? Would it have been necessary to follow it up with remorse or guilt? I don’t think so. If you believe in The Butterfly Effect, you will realise that there is very little margin for error in life. If by chance, you are at the wrong end of that margin, you should not panic and fill yourself with regret. Never wish to go back in time to change your past. You never know if you would find that past the way you had left it. So rather than worrying about the failed definitions of your life, you should strive to make successful descriptions of the present day definitions of life. The day you implement this philosophy completely, you will find the Butterfly fly the way you want it to.
PS: If you have not watched the movie “The Butterfly Effect” (1st part), I would recommend it highly. The movie, however, has nothing to do with cricket. It’s a completely different genre.