The Fallen Hero

The crowd cheered “Shree Pal”, “Shree Pal”, “Shree Pal” !!!. The entire stadium had their eyes glued to the field. It was the 2015 One-day International Final World Cup match. The tension was electrifying. The final was between India and Pakistan and the entire nation watched. It was the last ball of the match and Shree Pal was the last man standing. India needed only 4 runs to win in 1 ball.

Shree Pal hit a six in the back ward point! The stadium was in an uproar. At the age of 20 Shree Pal was a hero overnight. The King of square leg shots, the Badshah of long-on shots, the epitome of wacky catches and the Sultan of fielding. Shree Pal got the national honor for his excellence in cricket and was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

Billboards, interviews, press conferences, TV shows, advertisements; all wanted a piece of Shree Pal. He was the most popular Indian of the year. And one day when he least expected it, all hell broke loose.

It was the third day of the first test match of India's Tour to England and Shree Pal was the captain of the Indian team. In the first over, the 5.5 ounce season ball paced towards Shree Pal at the world record speed of 160 km/hour. This was speeding like a bullet train or a piece of concrete hurdled towards him.

The ball hit Shree Pals right knee and he heard a crushing sound and excruciating pain hit him like rain all over his body. Shree Pal collapsed in the field and was unconscious. The game was suspended and Shree Pal was air lifted to the nearest hospital for medical care.

Shree Pal had broken his knee bone and the pieces of bone shattered and were irreparable. The top surgeons of India performed a 2 hour long surgery to fix his knee and renowned orthopedic doctors across the world provided their expert consultation.

Shree Pal would never be able to play again. When the doctors informed him that, he cried for the full night. Nothing he could do would stop him from the misery of ill health. His pain was worsening day by day and it was getting difficult to walk. Each step he took during physiotherapy sent pain to his brain and it was getting unbearable.

Shree Pal decided to end his life. If there is no cricket, no Shree Pal. One dark night when he was at the hospital, he decided to go up to the terrace of the hospital and jump to end his suffering.

He went towards the terrace of the hospital and he saw a red door. It looked so different compared to other doors in the hospital. He felt an urge to go towards it. An unexplained feeling inside him told him to open the red door. He opened it.

It was a room full of children suffering from acute lymphocytic leukemia (blood cancer). They were fast asleep. Monitors and respirators beeped in the room insistently. Their little round hairless faces bore an expression of innocence and turmoil at a very young age.

One little guy woke up and recognized Shree Pal. He was too weak to walk. He held his crutches and went walking towards Shree Pal. He said, “Shree Pal, I am your biggest fan!!! Tomorrow is my operation and my last wish to God was to meet you, and its come true!. I always want to be like you.”

This little boy taught Shree Pal an important lesson. ‘Be like me ?’, Shree Pal thought. A failure who gave up on his life with a little suffering.

Shree Pal was an inspiration to millions of kids across the world and this is how the national hero wanted to end his life?

Shree Pal changed his mind and decided to bring cricket back to his life. He soon opened an academy of cricket coaching in Calcutta. Shree Pal Cricket Academy is one of the world renowned sports coaching centers.

You never know who your coach will be. Even a young kids can teach you life’s real lessons. Thanks to a little coach, Shree Pal began the second innings of his life.