Discipline and Fitness the 2 key factors to succeed in cricket, nuggets by Sanjay Dogra

“Spare the rod, spoil the child” has been a popular adage in the teaching and parenting fraternity when it comes to dealing with students and children. The rod of discipline is put to use not by one but by most to train their pupils and mould them into successful personalities of tomorrow. 

Mr. Sanjay Dogra is unequivocally the epitome of discipline and fitness when it comes to cricket. A former first class cricketer, Mr. Dogra had the reputation of being the deadliest left arm spinner of his time. Fondly called as the “Murder Bowler”, a title initiated by the great Mr. Sunil Gavaskar, Mr. Sanjay, who runs a cricket academy is one of the biggest believers in the importance of discipline and fitness in cricket.

Discipline can be broken into different parts when it comes to playing cricket and cricketers. Punctuality, following a proper diet, regular exercises and drills may look to be small things for some, have enormous significance in shaping a cricketer. In addition to discipline, having a fitness programme and fitness goals are very important.

Through this article, we will look at the advices given by Mr. Sanjay Dogra which act as essential pre-requisites necessary for any player to succeed in cricket at the highest level.

• Respect the game
• Respect your trainers and follow guidance genuinely, for instance just saying yes to show your artificial respect and then post that changing colours is totally fooling yourself
• Punctuality
• Eating healthy and required food that will help you in your workouts and gaining strength, which will result in better performance
• Accepting failures and learning from them without playing blame games
• Collars always down
• Never have a casual approach as that will not take you anywhere
• Always respect your academy as no academy has a magic wand; it is your capacity and capability that will determine your success
• Adequate rest to your body so that the body is charged fully
• First become fit, and then think about bat and ball
• Remember just bat and ball is not cricket, fitness is equally important. It is seen that most of the kids avoid running and want to start playing directly without first making themselves fit to play the sport
• Seeing the players on screen and making judgmental comments on them look easy but it is important to understand the kind of effort that they have taken to reach that level. First, you should undertake that kind of effort, only then you are eligible to comment on them.  
• Don’t compare yourself with others; create your own identity

According to Mr.Dogra, “Prevention is better than cure” and “Oblige Yourself” are the the 2 routes which every sportsman should follow in terms of discipline and fitness.