Dear Shrehaan...

Dear Shrehaan,

I heard that you have decided to take a break from cricket after what happened with the team selection. I can understand why you are disappointed. When you have worked hard, performed well and believe you have earned your place, it hurts to see someone else get the opportunity, especially when you feel the decision was not entirely based on merit.

But I hope you won't allow one such decision to make a much bigger decision for you.

There is something I learnt long ago which I think is worth remembering, not just in cricket but in life: focus on the controllables. Your fitness, your bowling, your accuracy, your pace, your attitude, your discipline and how hard you practise are in your hands. Who gets selected, who has influence and what happens in a selection meeting are not. Don't give the things outside your control the power to take away something you love.

Unfortunately, you will encounter unfairness from time to time, in cricket and outside it. Sometimes someone less deserving will get an opportunity ahead of you. I am reminded of an incident involving Vinod Kambli. After a domestic season in which he had scored a mountain of runs at an excellent average, he was still left out of the Indian team. Ajit Wadekar, the West Zone selector, had assumed that Kambli's performances made his selection certain, so he proposed Sairaj Bahutule's name instead, hoping to get another West Zone player into the side. To Wadekar's surprise, Kambli was ultimately omitted. Kambli had done what was in his control, scored the runs, yet the opportunity still didn't come. Sometimes, unfortunately, that is sport, and that is life.

And then there is Pravin Tambe, whose story tells us something different. For decades he played club cricket in Mumbai without getting an opportunity at the first-class level. Most cricketers would have given up long before, but Tambe kept playing and working at his game. At 41, an age by which most professional cricketers have retired, he was picked by Rajasthan Royals and went on to make his mark in top-level T20 cricket. Rahul Dravid later spoke admiringly about Tambe's persistence and his willingness to keep working despite years without recognition. His story is a wonderful reminder that you never quite know when your opportunity will come. The important thing is to still be there, working and ready, when it does.

And please don't let your height make you doubt whether you can be a fast bowler. Ramakant Desai, one of India's finest fast bowlers of his time, stood only about 5 feet 4 inches tall and was nicknamed "Tiny". Yet he bowled with genuine pace and could trouble international batsmen with his bouncers. On his Test debut against the West Indies, he took four wickets, including those of the great Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai. His height did not decide what kind of bowler he could become. He did.

Your physique cannot and must not define your destiny. If it did, B. S. Chandrasekhar, whose bowling arm had been affected by childhood polio, Tiger Pataudi, who played international cricket despite severely impaired vision in one eye, and Martin Guptill, who lost three toes in an accident as a teenager, could never have achieved what they did. They adapted to what they had rather than allowing what they lacked to decide how far they could go.

Even outside cricket, Leander Paes was relatively short by the standards of top men's tennis, at about 5 feet 10 inches. Yet he became World No. 1 in doubles and had an extraordinary career for India. What he may have lacked in physical stature, he more than made up for through skill, speed, anticipation, determination and sheer competitiveness.

Sport has never been only about having the ideal physical dimensions. Your height may influence the kind of fast bowler you become, but it does not decide how good that bowler can be. Learn what works for you. Develop your strengths. Keep getting fitter, stronger and more skilful.

So take a little time if you need it. Be disappointed if you need to be. But don't quit because somebody else made a decision you couldn't control. If you eventually decide that cricket is not for you, let that decision be yours, made for the right reasons. Don't let an unfair selection make it for you.

You have already shown that you can perform. There will be setbacks, and there will be more opportunities. Keep working, keep learning and make sure that when the next opportunity comes, you are ready for it.

I am always rooting for you. We all are!

With lots of love,

Vini Mama