Moving on from football, to India’s passion, my joy and the game of eleven fools (as George Bernard Shaw described it) cricket. I think a very few people in India do not know what cricket is, and the rest constitute the millions of fools who are ardent followers of the Men in Blue (the BCCI Indian Cricket team marketed to the core). Cricket for many Indians (including me) is larger than life and the basis of life itself. Cricket is to India what football is to Brazil. Ask a true Indian cricket fan what he/she longs, lives for and cherishes the most and he/she will say “To watch India win the match!” (accompanied with a big smile).

One of the happiest moments of my life was to watch India make it to the World Cup finals in 2003. Unfortunately the 23rd March 2003 also turned out to be one of the saddest, apparently Ricky Ponting (Punter) had other plans, and as his nickname suggests better placed bets. A few mistakes by the Indian cricket team captained very ably by Sourav Ganguly (Dada,Prince of Calcutta, God of the off-side) saw me, and many Indians, on that fateful day reduced to tears, in our “Men In Blue” Tri-Colour painted T-Shirts and faces. Heartbroken we wiped the tears off and hoped we would get to see that moment of glory which the generation before us had witnessed at Lords in 1983. That moment where the underdogs, Kapil Dev’s Indian cricket team won us the world cup against the then invincible West Indian Cricket team.

Cricket my love, my passion and a truly beautiful game. I say that because, there are a few things in life, more beautiful for an Indian cricket fan than that lovely Sachin Tendulkar straight drive (down the ground), or that immaculate Rahul Dravid square cut and not to forget the perfectly timed drives on the off-side by the God of the off-side Sourav Ganguly. Makes cricket seem a touch romantic (Yuvraj makes cricket literally romantic, to his female fans, he is also great at fielding and very good at batting, sorry ladies).

It is often said Indians get too emotional about cricket (I am accused of the same), well the accusations are correct. I mean people do get emotional in life at some point of time. Life without cricket is unimaginable, sometimes I wonder why? Then I remember that cricket flows through my veins and I inherited the passion (like many Indians). I remember my life in two phases, one before the 1992 World Cup and the other after it,courtesy Dad (though he does not admit it, he loves cricket as much, maybe more). Cricket might not be played in the Gentleman’s outfit anymore but has lost little of its captivating magic.

One of the essential cricket tips I ever learned was that of goal setting. The ability to set goals and effectively motivate yourself to achieve them are two essential cricket tips and skills that will help you achieve success in any cricket season or sport.

Starting a cricket season without goals could be compared to batting blindfolded in the dark. What would be your chance of hitting the ball? It is essential to set goals at the start of the season to aim for: How many runs, wickets or catches will you takes? Giving yourself a target to aim for will help focus your mind and mentally prepare you for setting plans to achieve them.

If when you start your cricket season, you have no goals and aim at nothing; is it not unlikely that you will hit nothing and achieve nothing? If you haven’t set goals, start now and set yourself the goal to score 250 runs or take 60 wickets by the end of the season, then plan how you will do it.

To set effective goals there are a few things you need to know about yourself which will affect how you set your goals. You are affected by, the environment in which you live, your experience and knowledge, your attitude and dreams and visions for the future.

When you set your goals you need to decide what you want and when you want to achieve each goal. You should spend time writing down your goals and display them in a prominent position where you will see them daily to remind yourself to stay motivated and focused. Cross off your goals once they’ve been achieved, add new ones to ensure when you reach your goals, you can further them and take your cricket to the next level.

“Don’t set your Goals to low. If you don’t need much, you won’t become much”. – - Jim Rohn – -

I’m sure you will have come across the SMART analogy, with regards to goal setting. It contains the most important concepts to consider and adhere to when setting your goals.

Goals should be; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time related.

For example it would be unwise to set a goal of scoring one hundred runs every week, it’s just not a realistic goal for the average person, unless you are Michael Vaughn or Ricky Ponting that is! As you would probably fail to reach this goal, your motivation would suffer and you might start doubting your cricketing ability.

Before you start setting your goals write a list of all the things you want to achieve; whether it would be your first one hundred runs, fifty wickets in the season or first catch. By doing this it will help focus your mind and motivate yourself to succeed.

Now set your goals, they need to be SMART and you need to set both short term and long term goals, and also daily goals, for specific match days. All successful cricketers set goals and prioritise them in order of importance.

By making goal setting a habit there is no reason why you cannot achieve your cricketing goals.