It is said that ‘Talent needs an ally in hard work’. No matter how talented you are, without hard work you won’t be able to reach your peak performance capability.

When you’re studying in college or working on group projects for MBA, BSC, BBA and so on you’ll probably notice it in your team. Some of your team mates may depend on their talent and some may combine their talent with hard work to outshine the rest.

Also, some of the individuals who swear by this motto are found in India’s favourite sport – cricket. We’re not going to look at the well-known stories of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, ad any sports enthusiast knows those stories by now. This is why we’re going to look at 3 unsung heroes of Indian cricket who live by this motto.

Rohit Sharma

He was born in the town of Bansod in Nagpur and was brought up in Borivali by his uncle. His hard work was noticed when he managed to get a scholarship to put him through school. He started playing for India back in 2003 and began his international innings by 2007. However, his first few years in the team were tough. Everyone knew he had the talent, but he wasn’t able to perform at par with what was expected of him.

Rohit Sharma, however, didn’t let this break his spirit, he worked hard and slowly saw how the game was changing for him. His efforts have earned him many titles such as the highest individual ODI scorer with 264 runs against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, the player to get ‘Most runs from fours and sixes in an innings’ by scoring 186, the player to hit the ‘Most number of fours in an ODIinnings’ with 33 fours and many more.

Picture Courtesy – Hindustan Times

Gautam Gambhir

Gautam was born in Delhi and was raised by his grandparents and later by his uncle and aunt. He was selected by the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in 2000.

For the first few years, he was noted as a good domestic player, but was not able to perform as well when it came to international matches. Because of his erratic performance, he was dropped from the team for the 2007 World Cup. This really upset him and he almost gave up the game.

However, Gautam Gambhir decided to work hard on the areas he felt needed improvement. Soon, with a few adjustments, he was able to greatly improve his game and he led Delhi to the Ranji Trophy title. He was also the No.1 ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings in July 2009. He later went on to also become the ICC Test Player of the Year in the same year -2009.

Picture Courtesy – sports.ndtv

Ishant Sharma

Much like Gambhir, Ishant Sharma also was born and brought up in Delhi. He loved cricket and had the talent for the game as well. He took a serious interest in the game by age 14. Owing to his height and his bowling abilities, his talent was recognised soon and he joined the Indian team at the age of just 19.

Ishant soon went on to become one of India’s fastest bowlers and has taken more than 100 ODI wickets till date. He is most remembered for getting 14 wickets in 9 games during the Commonwealth Bank Series in 2007-2008.

Sadly, like most fast bowlers, he ended up losing his pace as the years went by and thus lost his confidence in the game. However, instead of giving up, he worked on his form and pace (despite health concerns). His determination and hard work are what make him a renowned cricket player.

Picture Courtesy – India Today

These players can prove to be a source of inspiration, especially when you’re struggling with hard times like exams for your correspondence course or distance education program. These inspiring stories let us know that hard work pays off, so we shouldn’t give up easily.