Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s recent involvement with Indian Army has inspired a lot of our men in uniform or otherwise. Dhoni is not alone in the list of sportsperson who have shown their love for the Army, as Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra was also commissioned by Army as Honorary Lt Colonel in the Territorial Army.

India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar also showed his love for our Armed forces as he joined Indian Air Force as a Group Captain. World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev has had a long relationship with the Army as well. So, what is that make the relationship between the people who fights for their country and players who play for our country so strong?

There have been instances where our sportsperson have associated themselves with different organizations and causes but when they are connected to the Armed forces it always look as they have a good connection going among each other.

Let’s discuss some of the things that these two groups of people can learn from each other.

Things that sportsperson can learn from armed forces:

Battling the tough conditions: Our armed forces are everywhere. They tackle the most difficult situations known to our mankind. There has never been an instance where a battalion has complained about anything. They know what they have been signed up for and they make sure that they don’t let anything come between them and their goal. This is one thing that sportsperson round the country can learn from them. It’s true that to compete at a world level one need the best equipment and training grounds, but the level of complaints that we hear from them is unbeatable.

Discipline: Our armed forces are known for their discipline. They control all their desires and follow the rules no matter whether they agree with them or not. Sportsperson lacks discipline on many occasions and there have been some ugly instances on and off the field involving them. Some of the younger kids lose their temper very quickly and sets bad examples.

Keeping fit all the time: This applies mostly to our cricketers. They take most of the things for granted and whenever there is a break one can see them losing their focus and hence compromising on their shape. Armed Forces have high level of training and they are always kept on their toes, they are always in good shape and are up for a battle. The amount of doping instances is always growing and that creates a negative image of our sportsperson.

There are several other things that sportsmen can learn from our defense system, but there are things that our armed forces can learn from the sportsperson as well.

Coping the pressure: Our armed forces have tremendous pressure on them as their job is to ensure safety in our country, but they work as a unit, hence the pressure is distributed, but this is not the case with sportsperson. They are under tremendous pressure day-in day-out. People take their achievements personally and criticize them heavily if they fail. There have been instances when stones have been thrown at players home, but no player has reciprocated that back to the fans.

Sportsperson have no personal space but have learnt the art of controlling their fans well: Sportsperson, especially cricketers have no personal space in this country. There is always a mob waiting to surround them every time they step out of their home. They can’t have the basic luxury that every other individual have in this country. People in the armed forces can move freely in their off time and can do what they feel, but this is not the case with sportsperson, they are always surrounded by fans and they control them brilliantly.

By Indian Sports News Network