“Padhoge likhoge to banoge nawab, kheloge koodoge to hoge kharab.”

It’s okay if this video made you take a trip down the memory lane because it happened to me too. Ah, childhood. Those were the days when we’d go on the fields and play to our heart’s content. While we would lose ourselves in playing, our parents would often remind us of the aforementioned saying. Now, I won’t question the logic behind it, ’cause you guys already know that there isn’t one. So, let’s all admit that if it wasn’t for sports, we would have missed some very important life lessons. Here are a few of them to cheer you up in case you were having a bad day.

1. Nothing can teach you teamwork better than a soccer field, half a minute and one goal to win.

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While scoring the highest grade might have made us the apple of our teacher’s eyes, it was a strenuous last minute soccer match that made us realize what teamwork really is. If you don’t believe me, take a moment and think about it. The importance of teamwork will always be insurmountable. 

2. You’ve got to move past the milestones and look beyond them.

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Just like life, you don’t always come out on top when it comes to sports. Sure there are good and bad matches, just like good and bad days, but you should know how to move on. That, folks, is the most important part, amirite?

3. If you trust yourself, you’ve already won half the game.

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Tackling difficult moments while playing made us stay on our toes and taught us to trust our instincts. In many ways, we learnt to get rid of self-doubt and grow stronger as a person. Turns out, that’s exactly what we need when tough times come calling. 

4. Success is important, but so is failure.

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I could have used a success-failure quote but that would have been way too corny. So, I’ll get straight to it. We wouldn’t have known what success tastes like if it wasn’t for failure. And sports taught us that quite gracefully.

 5. It teaches you what you’re really made of. 

Sports always help us push our limits. That peak moment when we thought we’d give up was always the deciding factor of any game. After that, we were born anew. That’s the beauty of sports.   

6. 10 runs in 2 balls. That’s when you learn to pull off miracles in adversity. 

Out of the numerous things that sports teach us, making the best of the worst is the most important. After all, what is life but a playground full of adversities? Even today, when I am stuck in difficult situations, I pick myself up, dust the challenges off, hit a six and move on. 

With so much that sports can teach us, how many kids actually get the privilege to step out and play? And when the God of cricket raises that question, we can’t help but contemplate. While Sachin has taken an important stand to make sure that every kid lives their childhood to the fullest, we can’t wait to see what he’s up to.