Superstitious People - Type 4: The popular Cricketer and Sportsperson

For all my Indian readers I decided to add one more type of superstitious people of whom they hear often and who are generally an example especially for our youth – which is the biggest reason why they should actually not be superstitious!

The superstitious Cricketer

When writing about the superstitious businessman, I said that he doesn’t believe in his own talent and work, instead giving full credit to some mysterious force. The same is true for a lot of sportspeople and as cricket is India’s most popular sport, I have found a lot of examples for superstition among the popular players. They are rich, they have lots of money, they hold many records and they still believe that it is not their talent, workout and practice that made them successful.

Some of the cricket players of India’s National Team play with their birthdate as a number on their back, thinking it will bring them luck. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for example plays on number 7, as his birthday is on July 7. Yuvraj Singh, whose birthday is December 12, plays with the number 12 on his back.

Many cricketers are known for keeping their handkerchiefs only in the left pocket, some swearing it has to be a handkerchief of red colour while others believe it has to be yellow. If you keep the wrong colour of handkerchief or keep it in the wrong pocket, you are not going to win. Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli don’t believe in handkerchiefs – but black wristbands that protect them from evil energies.

Sachin Tendulkar – India’s most successful cricket player of all times – always puts on the left leg pad first and then the right one, making sure not to change as it may have a bad effect on his play. That is no surprise though, as his guru is the late magician Sathya Sai Baba, one of the biggest fake gurus of all times, who cheated his followers by making them believe he can materialize gold. What else could you expect of Sachin, the holder of records?

I read that the big players have their lucky seats in the team bus and believe it is bad luck if they don’t get to sit on their seats – which is why there are then no changes in the sitting order in the bus! Sreesanth, another one of India’s national players, insists however to always leave the bus last and maybe thinks it could help him get out of the game last, too.

The most common superstition is probably that of ‘lucky items’. If you won or played very well with a certain cap, handkerchief, glove, shoe or any other item with you, you carry that thing around with you the next time, too, thinking it brings you luck. This funny idea has gone so far that even the official cricket organization that runs all the matches in India, the BCCI, asked the Indian National Team in September 2012 not to wear their newly designed jerseys which had been ready and already showed to the public. Instead they should stick to the old ones with which they had won the World Cup the year before!

Sports, and maybe especially cricket, is full of superstition! It is complete nonsense though and a psychological illusion which the players create for themselves. They like making themselves dependent on things like their handkerchiefs instead of believing in their abilities. It is the right seat in the bus due to which they win, not their talent. It is the lucky glove which had them catch the ball, not their good eyes and training to stand at the right spot!

It is the gurus, religious scriptures and other superstitious people who are right, not the scientists and non-believers who could explain you the world. These are the people whom our youth looks up to. They should be better ideals and stop believing in such nonsense!