Into the mind of a cricketer who rose from failure to glory

By K.R. Nayar 

Marvan Atapattu, who rose from zeroes to become one of the heroes in cricket, revealed what transforms failure into success. His analysis during a zoom chat with him confirmed my belief that if you earnestly love what you do, then failure can never sink you nor can anyone pull you down.   

Marvan Atapattu during the zoom session with Deserts Cubs Cricket Academy  

Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu has often been presented as an example of a cricketer who rose from failure to glory. The tale of how from scores of 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, from his first three Test matches, he went on to become one of the toughest batsmen to dismiss, is inspiring. His determination to not give away his wicket resulted in him hitting six double centuries before he ended his career scoring 5509 Test runs and recording 8529 runs in One Day Internationals. 

To talk to such a fighter, a man with the spirit to rise against odds is a great feeling. Thanks to Presley Polonnowita, Head Coach of the Desert Cubs Cricket Academy, who invited me for a zoom session alongside their coaches and young cricketers with Atapattu.   I’ve always have wondered how Atapattu would have handled all the criticisms that followed his string of ducks. 

When I asked him about that, he said: “When you score a hundred, some newspapers may write you are the best batsman in the world, and that you have the best technique. But when you fail, the same newspaper could write exactly the opposite stating you have the worst technique and that you are not likely to make it to any side. So it is important to have a coach or parents or even friends, whom you can trust and from whom you can take advice to overcome failure.” 

Then when I asked him if he had any fear before going out to bat, especially when his last score was not a big one, Atapattu's candid response was: “Whether your last score was big or not, every time you walk into bat, you should have a fear, you should have butterflies in your stomach to do well.” 

When Aryan Lakra, the UAE Under-19 captain asked him about how to handle failure despite working hard, Atapattu gave him an interesting piece of advice: “There are good days and bad days in life. Remember, a bad day is never going to be forever, and the same applies to cricket too.  You may score a zero and another day a hundred. It is when your chips are down that one should motivate yourself to be successful next time.”  

Atapattu believes that being mentally strong is vital even to become physically strong. “You have to be mentally strong. Never say you cannot face a particular bowler. Instead get mentally tough and face him. Even if you do 100 push-ups and try to be physically strong, if you are not mentally tough then your focus will be narrowed. If your mind says you can, then your body will do it.”

Atapattu also had some great advice to coaches and parents. “Never judge a boy when he is around 13 or 15. People may say he will make it to the national team and some may say he is not good enough. If the boy loves the game, he will work hard and go all the way, and even if you look promising if you don’t love the game you won’t go far.” 

While speaking on how he converted zeros into the many double hundreds, he said: “As a batsman, one thing that is guaranteed is a failure. You may get a zero but if you love batting if you will get big scores. Such a person will be never get satisfied with a fifty because when he scores a 50 he will go for a hundred and when he gets a hundred he will try and go for a double hundred and when he reaches there he will aim for a triple century. That is how Brian Lara scored triple centuries and even hit scores of 400 and 500. If a batsman is greedy for runs, he can do anything.” 

Atappatu also reminded parents that even if their children do not succeed in the game or fail to make it to the top, they should not be disappointed. “Everyone cannot make it to the eleven but there is a lot one can learn from the game and that is the ability to make quick decisions. In cricket, you have only split seconds to make a decision and that can help in life too. It is a great sport to be involved in. If you love the game, the game will love you back too.”

For me, the session seemed like listening to a cricketer cum philosopher, a man who proved failure is never fatal and that failure can be overcome with a deep love for the sport.