India being a multilingual country, Cricket is yet another language, largely spoken by the Indian mass, unlike other dialects, this language is beyond territorial divide or sect differences, it speaks to us in ways no words ever can. A mere connection between Bat and Ball showed on the broadcast can make the otherwise silent, busy with their own work crowd gawk around the T.V. and howl in unison.

The idea of writing this particular article is partially derived from India vs. England test series (August 2011) and partially from a column Nandini Vaidyanathan in Entrepreneur. The basic idea is why not highlight those necessary qualities in a lawyer by drawing parallels between Indian test cricketers and law students/ practicing lawyers. To be honest there is nothing substantial added from my side, eleven qualities that I am about to list are not unusual or new. It is just in the language of cricket, well, perhaps it is a better way to reach those who are either law students or are already practicing in the field of law, and convey my thoughts in an all-inclusive manner

Here is our “All time classic Indian test squad” as per me, you are free to disagree:-

1. Gautamm Gambhir.
2. Virendra Sehwag.
3. Rahul Dravid.
4. V.V.S. Laxman.
5. Sachin Tendulkar.
6. Sourav Ganguly.(C)
7. M.S.Dhoni. (Wk)
8. Irfan Pathan.
9. Anil Kumble.
10. Harbhajan Singh.
11. S. Sreesanth.

To start with Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag. The word that best describes these two cricketers are ‘focused’ and ‘fearless’. When a lawyer has defined his goal, his posture tells you whether he is pursuing it single-mindedly or he is going all over the place. For example I had a senior, who has always been quite unsure of what exactly he wanted his work field to be,  so he started capitalizing on any or every  opportunity that would come up, whatsoever the area may be, on the date of interview, the recruiter seeing his clustered C.V, with mention of almost all possible law sub-fields, asked him what exactly he wanted himself to be in five-ten years down the line, my friend  gave a mixed answer listing the pros and cons of the following, a cyber law proficient, an Intellectual property Genius, a Corporate law specialist, civil servant, civil judge, etc. whereas, on the contrary in the interview of a different senior of the same batch, who had ascertained his work interest to corporate law as his prime concern all his law school life, recruiters were happy to employ him at a handsome pay.  A good law student needs to be focused and fearless in order to make excel in his career.

Sehwag on pitch is a pure delight to watch because he plays with gay abandon. Likewise once you are out in the market, it’s no holds barred- the worst is behind you! Fear held you back until you made a choice. But now once you’re padded up for your time in the sun, what are you afraid of? Go ahead and enjoy every moment of it, like our man Sehwag does. Be fearless.

One down there’s Rahul dravid. ‘Reliable’ is the most obvious adjective to describe him. Reliability is not only important in sports; it is extremely essential in the world of law and business as well. And needless to say it is a very important professional trait. I had a senior, who was never punctual about his project submissions deadlines, although he landed up getting a job at a small law firm, but there also he got fired because of the same reason of being not punctual and unreliable. His boss had to suffer loss of money due to undue delay in assignment completion and also had to suffer loss of reputation in the professional market. All of it could have been avoided had my senior demonstrated the essential professional quality of reliability- a quality on which all stakeholder relationships are built, reputations made, brand equity created.

Next up is V.V.S. Laxman. The refrain in all our minds when we think of him is, ‘Do the impossible’, which other man in his right mind could pick up a ball way outside the off stump and flick it ever so gently on the leg side for a boundary with such ease?! And who in his right mind would return to teaching to science to school students with an engineering and doctoral degree from Ivy League institution- so that he could create hindi scrabble? A lawyer should believe in his capabilities and must always be ready to learn all his life and should strive to make those things possible as termed impossible by others, remember impossible is a term to drape one’s half hearted effort.

Then walks in the man, Sachin Tendulkar. Need I even explain this? Every inch of him is a pure-bred genius. A lawyer (every human) has a degree of genius in him too- and not all of it comes with DNA. On the contrary, much of it comes with perspiration and perseverance, this little champion has got 90-plus centuries, 17000-plus runs in ODIs and 13000-plus runs in Test cricket. He is comfortably the greatest batsman ever.

Then, of course, we have Sourav Ganguly. He and the word ‘Leadership’ have been synonymous. Yes, his body language did communicate arrogance but, in all fairness, it wasn’t without reason. Ganguly had a solid team to back him up, and he was successful in getting his team to share his vision. I am not for a second saying that arrogance is good, however, believing strongly in your team, in your ideas, in your vision, is always good and it yields results.

Five down is the scrappy guy, M.S.Dhoni. Now, the most endearing quality about Mahi is his ability to make the best of most situations. Give him a flat track and he will grind your bowlers into dust; give him a tough one to play and he will hit those ridiculous shots and dart across for a quick single even before the oppositions has realized it! A Lawyer too needs to be scrappy. In the path to become a successful lawyer, there is never an ideal situation where everything works out as per the script; a lawyer must have the ability to claw his way out of the debris and emerge as a winner.

Irfan is an unfortunate example of a trait that Lawyers or for that matter law students should steer clear of. When Pathan came to the international cricket, he was touted as the next Kapil Dev. But where is he in the scheme of things today? Pathan made one fatal error- one that many law students tend to make, too. He talked to too many people, tried to take advice from all of them, and eventually forgot what he was really best at. While it is important to take feedback from your ecosystem. It cannot be at the cost of your own identity.

Now, let’s get to the bowlers. First up, we have Anil Kumble. ‘Resilience’- that’s the word that springs to mind when one thinks of him. We all remember that match against West Indies wher Kumble came into bowl with his jaw held together just by a couple of bandages. And what did he do first? He took out a very well-settled Brian Lara, also, the Indian leg-spinner on 8^th Feb.1999 wrote himself a place in cricket history when he took all 10 wickets in Pakistan’s second innings Need I say more?

Harbhajan Singh is probably an unlikely candidate to epitomize adaptability, but hear me out. When he first came into international cricket, he couldn’t hold a bat to save his life. And look at him today! He has major hand in India’s last few test wins and draws. Hell, he has even added a couple of back to back 50s and a century to his name! A young lawyer should look up to him and learn adaptability and ability to work on one’s weakness turning it into his quality.

The last man in is the one we all love to hate: Shreesanth. Hate him all you want, but you have got to love his aggression. That’s how every lawyer needs to be as well- aggressive. Don’t let anybody tell you that your idea will not work. Be aggressive- that’s the only way you’ll make it big.

To be a successful Lawyer, one needs to have a bit of all these cricketers in himself.

Rustam Singh Thakur

4^th year, Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur

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