I've seen this happen several times before and yet never quite understood it. Cricket is a game that is played between two opposing sides, where generally the side that executes better on the day ends up winning. On a more macro level the same is fundamental to any sport. Even those played between individuals, like tennis or golf. The individual or the team that executes the skill or set of skills which are on display, better than the opposition, generally comes up trumps.

However, sometimes this is not necessarily the case. Teams or individuals who are better placed to win at the start of the game and/or may also display a better performance during the course of the game are stalled in their march to victory by an intangible element. This intangible may on some occasions delay the onset of victory for the opposition, if not completely deny it.

In the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, this past Thursday, this latent intangible manifested itself yet again. It once again donned the guise of a champion sportsman's will power, his tenacity not to give in without a fight, his ability to inspire his team from a seemingly hopeless position. Since the time Shane Warne came out to bat in the penultimate over of the Royals innings, he had a tonic like effect on the fortunes of his side. The little known Abhishek Raut looked to be feeding off Warne's energy and played a cameo late in the Royals innings that proved to be invaluable in the overall scheme of things.

Then when the Royals came out to bowl, Warne was once again on the button with his opening bowling combination. When Chris Gayle seemed to have escaped that guerilla attack and was threatening to take the game away from the Royals, Warne introduced himself into the attack, ready to stymie any challenge that tried to get in the way of his will to win. His handling of Kamran Khan in the last few overs, talking to the young apprentice ball after ball, was exemplary in that it upset the favourable odds of the batting side winning the match – a mere eight runs were required off the last six deliveries with four wickets in hand. In the final analysis, irrespective of what the odds were at the start of the game, or how they fluctuated during the game, it was Shane Warne's will power that prevailed over any other skill his side may have shown or the Knight Riders may have lacked.

As was pointed out earlier in this piece, this is not the first time that we witnessed a champion sportsman's will becoming the difference between a side winning and losing. In early 1999, Brian Lara shepherded his side to a famous one wicket win over a far superior Australian side in the third test in Bridgetown, Barbados. Lara's batting shone like a beacon for the West Indies right through that series (546 runs in 4 tests) and was largely instrumental in helping the side end the series with a drawn result, an aberration given the strength of the opposing Australian team. The same Shane Warne, singularly spearheaded the Australian challenge and challenged the English to play out of their skins in the 2005 Ashes. With a final tally of 40 wickets and 249 runs in that series, Warne almost managed to waylay the English in their eventually successful quest to reclaim the urn.

The legendary Chicago Bulls of the 1990's ceded home court advantage to the Utah Jazz in the NBA championship finals of 1997-1998, but were nevertheless successful in regaining the title due to some unbelievable performances from Michael Jordan. Utah seemed to be the better team right through the regular season, the playoffs and indeed the first couple of games of that championship series. But when it mattered most, they failed to come up with an alternative to Jordan's drive in winning a sixth championship. The Wimbledon final last year, that provided some of the best tennis the game has ever seen, was no different. Federer's artistry, his record at the venue, all proved insufficient in overcoming Nadal's resolve to win his first ever championship.

Herein lies the parallel between cricket (or sport) and life, that the better placed need not necessarily win. Play as you will, as the defending champion or as the underdog, so long as one believes in his or his team's ability to win, there is always a chance to upset the odds. Self belief is an asset, hugely underutilized by cricketers (indeed sportsmen) across continents. A timely reminder then by the Royals captain of the axiom 'where there is a will (or sometimes Warne) there will always be a way'.