I don't know how many of you are cricket enthusiasts, but I remember watching the India-Bangladesh match in the recently concluded World Cup. If you watched the match yourself, you'll know that one of the key, most exciting moments of that match was when M. S. Dhoni took the catch of Soumya Sarkar down the leg side; a brilliant catch, diving to his left and the ball just stuck there. He later dismissed it as a fluke, but it was a brilliant catch and lovely to watch as well. It was also an important point because both Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan were rebuilding Bangladesh's innings when Mohammed Shami bowled this cross-seam bouncer to Sarkar and all he could do was guide it down and Dhoni took the catch.
I've seen many replays of that catch, on television, Internet and even in my own mind, because it was such a brilliant effort. But, thinking about that and the way he dived to his left, sometimes my heart goes out in appreciation to the goalies who guard the goals for football and hockey. Oftentimes, they don't have what cricket wicketkeepers have, in that they see a bounce before it comes to them. Goalies often get it straight in a penalty shot where the kick comes in straight, without any bounce. They can't guess after the bounce where it's going to go, because it's coming straight. Statistics show that 12.6% of goalies move to the right, 14.2% move to the left. Yet, the best position for a goalie to be in on a penalty kick is to stay where they are. 33.3% of the shots come straight. But rarely do goalies stay there. They are moved to action and it is impossible for them to just stay still and face the consequences of having done nothing when the ball was coming in.
