Beyond the Boundary: A Psychological Exploration of Former Cricketers’ Unfulfilled Aspirations

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Page: 1839-1842

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17829559

Neeta Mehta (Department of Psychology, KET’s V. G. Vaze College, Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra)

In India, cricket is often treated as a religion. It is engaged with great devotion and passionate involvement by those who play it for a career or fun and also by spectators who choose it for entertainment. The glamour and money linked with this profession is so huge that despite the massive inherent uncertainty, cricket as a profession is pursued with great fervour. Given the nature and demands of the sport, the competition to be part of the Indian cricket team is intense. Needless to say, having to give up the dream of becoming a professional cricketer is a painful yet common experience. After making years of arduous journey, what is it to not reach the destination? How does one cope with such a broken dream? In order to answer these questions, a qualitative study was conducted taking 10 cricketers who had gone through serious training and practice but had to give up their dream. Using semi-structured interviews, the study examined their toils and challenges and captured their experience of failing yet bouncing back, utter disappointment yet acceptance and losses yet huge gains of life lessons learnt through a multi-faceted sport called cricket. Thematic analysis revealed 5 overarching themes: (a) Days of Intense Training (b) Struggles and Barriers (c) Emotional Response to Breaking of the Dream (d) Adaptive Coping and Resilience (e) Transfer of Learning From Pitch to Life. The findings emphasize profound impact of cricket in shaping life skills.