The Sweet Smell of Failure

I like my cricket. Good, solid Test cricket that is. And not the hamburger version Mr. Modi let leash upon our senses over the last couple of years. This month, thankfully, has been good for Test cricket.

The brightest moment in this period has come from a genial Tamil man called Muttiah Muralitharan, albeit at the expense of Indian cricket. Playing in his last Test match against India, Murali (as he is fondly called) picked up eight wickets to reach the unbelievable figure of 800 Test wickets in his career.

And the 800th was picked up off the last ball of the match. It is a feat so gargantuan that I must concede is far beyond anything Sachin Tendulkar or Don Bradman achieved in their careers. It is a feat that will never be matched. Not in my lifetime for sure.

I wonder how sweet that feat must have tasted for Murali. It was his last Test match and it was against the team considered the best against spin. But also because Murali knew failure before any success.

Back in 1995, during the Boxing Day Test between Sri Lanka and Australia, Australian umpire Darrell Hair called Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing in front of a 50,000 strong crowd. Hair called Murali a total of seven times.

Murali was 23 then. And it began a saga of scrutiny beyond comparison in modern cricket. He was vilified by many, called a cheat by a few and never respected by a couple more. Never mind that the best experts had cleared his action, in tests that he went through willingly. His hounding was unparalleled in cricket. A lesser man would have crumbled.

To say that the year 1995 was the turning point in this man’s life is not an exaggeration. It was also the lowest of depths for a professional cricketer. But true champions show their mettle when it’s wanted of them. And show Murali did. He tried harder. He got better.

Before 1995, Murali had picked up 81 wickets in 23 Test matches. In the next 25 matches, he took 146 wickets. In the next 85 matches, he took 573 wickets. In all, he took 22 ten-wicket hauls and 67 five-wicket hauls. The best-ever figures.

Now tell me, how sweet must have 800 tasted after what happened in 1995? It is something entrepreneurs can really learn from. Just because your business failed, does not mean that you have failed. Just because your idea was ridiculed by one, does not mean that you are a joker. Just because you lost one customer, does not mean that you suck at sales.

Failure is the bedrock of every successful entrepreneur. We all understand that the fear of failure fuels an entrepreneur’s fire. But failure itself should also be the catalyst for doing it all over again, but better. It should be a reason for punching life back in the guts. A real entrepreneur must get at the game again. Ask me, I did. And I am better for it.

AUGUST SHARK is a once-failed, second-time successful bootstrapper who resides in Mumbai. He can be contacted at august@stumpspeak.com.

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August Shark, failure