Superstar, superstition

Quirks on the arena Last Sunday when most of India sat glued to the idiot box as Kolkata Knight Riders KKR dethroned reigning champs Chennai Super Kings in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League IPL one constant visual caught the attention of many mdash seated in the dugout KKR captain Gautam Gambhir continued to wear his batting pads till the end of the game a superstition that he admitted to having observed to ensure his team was safely home The water bottle fixation Rafael Nadal of Spain carefully arranges bottles of water near his seat during a break in games against Roger Federer of Switzerland in their menrsquos singles semifinal match on day 11 of the 2012 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26 2012 The India connect Itrsquos a known fact that Indian cricketers and their superstitions are as integral to the game as bat is to ball Take batting legend Sachin Tendulkarrsquos example He always wears his left pad first before a game u00a0Swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag chooses to wear a numberless jersey on the advice of his numerologist Gambhir who admitted to the media after that famous IPL final win about his superstition had reason to follow this one Interestingly the only occasion when he removed his pads after getting out KKR lostu00a0 Gimme red Tiger Woods wears red to tournaments as his mother felt it was lucky for him Others are doing it toou00a0 If you thought this was a cricket phenomenon think again In the ongoing French Open observe Rafael Nadal during breaks The Spaniard is known to bring only two water bottles to a match with identical labels After each set he sips from each of them and lines them up beside each other such that the labels face the baseline of the side he is playing u00a0American Serena Williams is believed to bring her shower sandals to the court she even ties her shoelaces a specific way and bounces the ball five times before her first serve Former World Number One Belgian Kim Cljisters is known to eat at the same restaurant whenever she is on a winning streak u00a0 Pad particular Kolkata Knight Ridersrsquo captain Gautam Gambhir didnrsquot remove his batting pads despite getting out early during the IPL5 final against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on May 27 Pics AFP Swiss tennis icon Roger Federer is known to be obsessed with the number eight eight aces before he can begin the game eight towelrubs after a set eight bottles of water Evian only and eight rackets in his bag u00a0On the contrary the number eight isnrsquot a favourite with Indian FormulaOne driver Narain Karthikeyan He has been quoted in the press that he considers it a bad omen He never stays on the eighth floor of hotels and avoids room numbers that add up to eightu00a0 Wayne Rooney Spainrsquos football team captain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas observe a ritual in which he touches his own crossbar whenever his team scores a goal u00a0For some like golf legend American Tiger Woods itrsquos about colour He wears red on Sundays because his very superstitious mother once told him that it is his lucky colour u00a0Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo wonrsquot be caught dead with a bad hairdo each time he steps out on the field One of the worldrsquos richest footballers doesnrsquot like to jinx a scoring run To ensure he is on a winning streak he follows a prematch ritual of getting his hair cut right u00a0England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has a similar routine Whatrsquos more amusing is the fact that he insists on getting his hair cut by a barber called Daniel J Hirsute routine beforeu00a0every game u00a0Portugalrsquos Cristiano Ronaldou00a0ensure that u00a0their hair is cut and styled the right wayu00a0 No one wants to leave anything to chance Dr Anjali Chhabria All of us no matter how confident we are possess certain insecurities We are anxious and always depend on something lsquoextrarsquo if we think that will make things work As far as sportspersons are concerned they are part of highstake games where along with skill luck plays a crucial role For example Gautam Gambhirrsquos superstition about him not taking off his batting pads till the end of the IPL final stemmed from this Dr Anjali Chhabria psychotherapist In such highpressure games no one wants to leave anything to chance In his case they won the match and I donrsquot think he will take those pads off during a match ever again At the end of the day nothing succeeds like success and if one feels that something is working then you tend to go with it In fact taking a cue from him other team members are also likely to develop their own superstitions because they might feel that it worksu00a0