Facing Up to Challenges

Facing Up to Challenges

1990 9 September 14 Facing Up to Challenges (345) “The reason for selecting Azharuddin was that he loved facing up to challenging situations. And that is a very important ingredient in leadership.”

One of the news items which appeared in the newspapers of January 6, 1990, was that Mr. Azharuddin had been appointed Captain of the national cricket team by general consent, and that he would lead the Indian team which was going to play in New Zealand. This news appeared strange to cricket enthusiasts, who thought that this honour would go to Srikant, he having recently captained the teams which played in the Sharjah Cup, the Nehru Cup and in matches held in Pakistan.

27 year old Azharuddin, who hails from Hyderabad, is known as a wonder boy, because of his cricketing skills. He is the second youngest player to lead the Indian team, the youngest being Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who captained the team in the West Indies when he was only 21.

What has led Azharuddin to this high position is his ability not to lose courage in the face of stiff challenges. If anything, he faces up to them with greater strength. In December, 1989, during the match held in Pakistan, his test career had initially been in jeopardy, because in the first innings in the Faisalabad test, he had failed to make any runs. He was out at the very start, But in the second innings, he saved his test career by making a century.

According to The Times of India (January 6, 1990) report, the Chairman of the selection committee, Mr. Raj Singh Dongerpur, said that “The reason for selecting Azharuddin was that he loved facing up to challenging situations, as was evident on the Pakistan tour; where he was on the verge of being dropped from the first Test. And that is a very important ingredient in leadership.”

This is a world of challenges. Here, only those succeed who have the courage to stand firm and face up to them. The more one possesses this quality, the greater will be one’s chances of success in this world.