Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has compared the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with a five-day game, saying the need of the hour for every individual is to display patience, determination and initiative — key attributes of a Test cricketer — to tide over the crisis.
To support his point, Chappell cited the example of two “influential innings” of Sachin Tendulkar and fellow Australian opener Ian Redpat, which according to him displayed all the three qualities needed to to bail out of the current situation. ESPNCricinfo quoted Chappell as saying, “The current testing times are demanding a lot of citizens around the world. I have learned that rules that apply to athletes prospering at sport are also helpful in living life. With the COVID-19 pandemic biting hard, citizens of all countries are being asked to display – among other attributes – patience, determination, and a bit of initiative. These are qualities essential to playing Test cricket at a high level. To highlight the point I’ve chosen two particularly influential innings.
The first one is a Sachin Tendulkar masterpiece in Chennai in 1998. His brilliant second-innings 155 won the Test for India, but it wouldn’t have happened without the initiative displayed by Tendulkar in the lead-up to the series. It’s rare that a Test match is so finely balanced on the fourth day with the champions of each team doing battle with each other. At that moment the result was on the line. Tendulkar’s determination and initiative were rewarded when he put his well-thought-out plan into operation. He immediately attacked deliveries pitching in the footmarks, and after a series of electrifying shots reached and cleared the boundary, Warne reluctantly went back over the wicket. Tendulkar had won the battle and India would go on to win the Test”. Talking about Redpath’s knock against West Indies in 1976, Chappell said: “Combine Tendulkar”s initiative and determination with Redpath’s patient courage and you have some of the qualities required to survive this devastating pandemic.”
