In the sporting arena, do you think only talent and hard work are required to excel consistently? Think twice before nodding in agreement, as these two qualities don’t assure that the rub of the green will also go the way of a sportsperson. For instance, how many times have Sachin got out in the nervous 90’s across the formats? A total of 28 times, a record he would have been better off without. Even Federer has seen, at least on 10 occasions, the Grand Slam slipping away from him when it was firmly there in his grips. So the gist of the matter is that apart from the efforts and skillsets fortune also plays a humongous part in guaranteeing success to a sportsperson. To preserve luck or to bring good fortunes several athletes have followed a particularly strange pattern. Hence, it will only be appropriate to go through the superstitious beliefs of some of the sporting icons.
Why Michael Jordan Wore University Shorts?
It might be hard to perceive the legendary basketball as superstitious but Michael Jordan was not above such beliefs in reality. As he took Chicago Bulls to greater glories at the NBA championships in his decorated career, the five-time MVP always donned shorts of University of North Carolina beneath his usual attire in all the games. Jordan was of the view that the mesh marvels enhanced his luck quotient. To hide his fortuitous pair, Jordan started adorning longer shorts, which had a trail-blazing effect in the NBA later on.
Borg’s Facial Hair & The Fila Shirt
Unarguably one of the greatest to have graced the Tennis courts, Bjorn Borg also confirmed to quirky beliefs. Setting a perfect example of steely resolve on the courts, Borg regularly prepped for the yearly championship by cultivating a beard and adorning the same Fila shirt. These strange tactics assisted him in grabbing five successive Wimbledon titles from 1976-1980. Later on, the fetish for the “lucky beard” started spreading to many in the NFL and NHL as well.
Tiger’s “Red Possession”
Even the famous golfer Tiger Woods was also firmly into a method of madness. During his purple patch in the ’90s and early 2000, it was very common to spot Tiger in a red shirt, especially on the Sunday of a major and it was not without a reason. He, later on, confessed that “I’ve worn red ever since my college days basically, or junior golf days – big events on the last day. I just stuck with it out of superstition, and it worked. I just happened to choose a school [Stanford] that actually was red, and we wore red on our final day of events. So it worked out.”
For Waugh, It Was Not Mere “Fabric” But …..
It might come across as a hanky, but in reality, it happened to be a pocket-size piece of cloth sliced off from one of the towels given to players. This hankey-like substance did as much damage to the opposition as Shane Warne’s flippers or Glenn McGrath’s boring but probing length as Australia’s invincibility strangely coincided with Steve Waugh’s lucky fabric. The material became a protective shield for more than a decade and for Waugh it turned out to be a harbinger of good times.
Sachin’s Standard Ritual & The “Lucky Bat”
Even Sachin Tendulkar was not indifferent to superstitions as the Master Blaster followed a quirky design when he put on his cricketing gears. Whenever it was the turn of the maestro to bat, he used to invariably put on the left pad first before anything else. Also, Sachin repaired his “lucky bat” prior to the 2011 World Cup as he wanted India to be the world champions that year and his dreams came true as well. Well, it is not our case to find out whether the “lucky bat” had any part in the same.
MS Dhoni’s Obsession With No.7
The “Captain Cool” was without a doubt one of the most successful captains for Team India in the recent past. However, beneath his cool demeanor lay a fascination for the number 7. Fortune has most of the time favoured this brave warrior from Jharkhand. But has it got anything to do with the number 7 on the back of his jersey? Well, the only thing for which we have a clear answer is that he was born on the 7th of July and he considered 7 as his lucky number.
