Duke Jeyaraj
50 needed off 19, at one point. That’s what India needed in their opening game versus Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 23 October 2022. Yuvraj Singh scored 50 off 12 balls in a World T20 game, I assured myself. But then, he did that when he hit six sixes in an over, I recalled. So, would one of the remaining three overs be the over when either Virat Kohli or Hardik Pandya, the batsmen at the crease, hit six sixes in an over? These questions boggled my mind. It was 48 runs needed off 18 balls (3 overs), required, shortly later. At one point, it was 28 off 8 balls needed, with Haris Rauf, Pakistan’s best bowler on that day bowling. He was also the most experienced bowler to bowl in the MCG Stadium that day among both the teams. When he removed the dangerous-looking Surya Kumar Yadav with peach of a delivery, one could sense that straight away. That’s when Virat Kohli hit the last two balls of that nineteenth over by Rauf for two of the most astonishing sixes that came in succession in World Cricket in any format! One six, the six off the fifth ball, Rajdeep Sardesai called the “Shot of the Century” comparable with Shane Warne’s “ball of the century”. The equation had became now – 16 off 6. India eventually won, thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s calmness, coolness, and composure, off the last ball. The crowd of 90,000+ collectively roared. The whole of India were airbourne, thanks to Kohli in Melbourne, that day! Kohli did not leave the bulk of the scoring for the very last over – a very smart move indeed. It could have been the case of India needing 25+ runs off the last over but for those six twins hit by Kohli in the balls, 18.5 and 18.6.
Do you leave things for the very last minute? That homework. That office assignment. Do we leave things for the last minute when it comes to Salvation? The Bible teaches ‘now’ is the time of Salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Don’t postpone your coming to Jesus, the one who died for you on the Cross. Come now. After death, which ofcourse can come at anytime, it will be too late (see Heb. 9:27). After Jesus returns like a thief in the night it will be too late, because he is Savior today and Judge tomorrow (2 Thess. 5:2). If the Spirit of God stops speaking to the stubborn human heart – hope it is not your heart heart mate – again it will be a case of too late again (Gen. 6:3).
So, come to the Jesus, the Savior, the only God-in-flesh, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Come now. The next minute may be too late to do this.
BEING CARRIED BY THE CAPTAIN
Captain Rohit Sharma carried Virat Kohli to the delirious joy of onlookers – including Virat’s wife, Anushka – after the game. The Holy Spirit is able to carry us to carry out the laws of God, Prophet Ezekiel wrote (Ezekiel 37:27). Have you given place for the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? It is not how much of the Holy Spirit we have, but how much of us, the Holy Spirit has! That was Billy Graham’s point.
CARRY ON WITH HOPE WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH
India had lost four wickets at the half-way mark of their innings (at the 10th over’s end) with their score still in the 40s having to score 160 for a win. They had to score 2 runs per ball, literally every ball of the latter half of their innings. This challenge was huge. But Kohli and Hardik Pandya (who started delivering the first counter punches post the mid-innings break) carried on with hope. Their partnership meant the latter half of India’s innings was more glorious than the first half. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” This we read in Haggai 2:9. Yes, when we carry on God’s Work with hope when the going gets tough, the latter half will be more glorious than the first half, as the Lord wills and enables us! Don’t quit at half-time! Don’t quit during the hard times! Kohli and Hardik did not.
(Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj, the author of this piece is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. This is a reader-supported Indian ministry. Write to us at +91-8886040605 or via emailduke@gmail.com, to know more)
