Genuinely Sid: ICC World Cup: Better to be underdogs!!

Genuinely Sid: ICC World Cup: Better to be underdogs!!: "The expectations are set in accordance to your seeding in the tournament...an underdog or dark horse status helps!! it helps the team stay f..."

Genuinely Sid: ICC World Cup: Better to be underdogs!!

Genuinely Sid: ICC World Cup: Better to be underdogs!!: "The expectations are set in accordance to your seeding in the tournament...an underdog or dark horse status helps!! it helps the team stay f..."

Genuinely Sid: Leading by example and not by words...

Genuinely Sid: Leading by example and not by words...: "Angels in the outfield is one of my favourite movies of all time. The film depicts the story of a young kid, Roger, and his dream of reuniti..."

Leading by example and not by words...

Angels in the outfield is one of my favourite movies of all time. The film depicts the story of a young kid, Roger, and his dream of reuniting with his family. Roger's father had casually remarked(knowing well that it will never happen) that they all can be family, if  California Angels, one of the hopeless baseball teams in the league, win the coveted championship.The film revolves around Roger and the real angels(who appear from the sky!!) who turn up during the games to help the California Angels win the league matches, as also help build a team out of siloed, abusive, arrogant yet talented individuals. However, the angels refuse to help during the championship match saying " it has to be played and won on it's merit". This, to me, was the most inspiring thought in the entire movie.
Drawing a parallel, the Indian Cricket team played and won the final on its own merit and brought home the world cup after 28 long years. However, the most inspiring moments in this match,came from the captain, MS Dhoni. Belittled for the team's performance during league matches, especially in bowling and fielding departments, he stood up and delivered when it mattered the most...at the centre stage in a World Cup Fi"nal!! Leadership talks about strategy, planning, execution and so on but how many of the leaders "walk the talk?
Well, MSD did on the night of 2nd April amidst the expectation of a billion people across the world. With accusations of team compostion(Sreesanth in place of Ashwin) and his own patchy batting performance, the captain played an innings(91 from 78 balls)of immense maturity and immaculate temperament.The strategy was to counter the off spin of Murali and Suraj Randiv and not expose the in form left handers(Yuvraj and Suresh Raina); also having played Murali earlier, he thought he will be better equipped to pick up the doosra better than others.However, the line of thought and planning, which was in consensus with the team management, pointed to the Captain to take the lead...and he never shied away from it..despite such huge expectations.His admonishing Gautam Gambhir for playing a cross batted shot, punching power packed fours through covers and negotiating the dangerous Malinga is what inspired a Imram Khan to mention that more than a captain, MSD is a leader!!
Even his post match celebrations was quite muted and not as ecstatic or emotional like some of his team members..perhaps, his humble beginnings have taught him the transient nature of it all (accolades and brickbats)....which brings us to an important attribute of a  leader...being emotionally detached from your own performance, success or failure!!
MSD won the game for India on his own merit, led by example and not by words....you can almost hear the angels in the sky applauding amidst the bright fireworks that lit up the Saturday sky!!

A Captain's Knock

18th June, 1983

India faced Zimbabwe at Nevill Ground, Royal Tunbridge Wells  under overcast conditions. India won the toss, elected to bat and were tottering at 9/4 and then 17/5. As a teenager listening to BBC radio, I switched it off and went to sleep.I was hoping that the there will be a change of luck, after I wake up from slumber!! India went on to score 266/8 due to a magnificent knock from their Captain, Kapil Dev.He came back with a vengeance to remove the dangerous Duncan Fletcher( who also went on to coach the English Cricket team). India won the match by 31 runs but this match is best remembered for a Captains's knock. Arriving at 9/4, then 17/5 and 140/8, he crafted a 126 run partnership for the ninth wicket with Syed Kirmani, a record that stood for 27 years.Wisden recognised it as one of the top ten batting performances in 2002.Kapil's knock was laced with 16 boundaries and 6 sixes, and his 175 came of a mere 138 deliveries. An example of a courageous captain, leading by example and delivering when the chips are down!! No wonder, Kapil and team India went on to win the 1983 World Cup but a piece of history was scripted a few days earlier at Nevill ground.

2nd April 2011

MS Dhoni or Mahi has always attracted his share of critics due to his no nonsense approach towards the game. He comes from a humble background, has made a steady rise to the coveted post as Captain of team India, but has always believed in speaking his mind out and leading by example. After a disastrous 2007 WC campaign, India were tagged as favourites but hardly performed to justify their tag line in the league matches.

India won their knockout games against Australia(QF) and Pakistan(SF) to reach the final. The team has been relying heavily on Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Virat, Gautam to fire while Zaheer and Bhajji were were supposed to provide the crucial breakthroughs in the bowling department. The captain himself was not in prime form to add to the woes. Sri Lanka set a target of 275, mainly due to a brilliant century by Mahela Jayawardane(103 in 88 balls). India were struggling at 114/3 when the Captain Mahi walks out, with Sri Lankan spinners spewing fire. As usual eyebrows were raised on an out of form Captain walking ahead of Yuvi(Man of the tournament).And how he replied; 91 of 79 balls and hitting a huge six to finish the match in style. Truly a Captains's knock!!

If you are looking for leadership, mentorship, team building and example of what separates the men from the boys, do not look beyond the two shining examples of Indian Cricket. It's when the going gets tough, the tough gets going!!

Will it be another Indian swan song at CWC?

After every game, we lament that we are not the best fielding side in the world. We mention that we gave the opposition areas to score and they capitalised on it. We know that playing seven batsmen with Bhajji and Ashwin (whom Sunil Gavaskar mentioned repeatedly as a former opener) to follow, makes us the best batting side in the world; except that we are yet to come terms with power plays( lost 7 wickets for 51 runs and you termed it as a improvement over the last match!).Why do we keep on repeating our deficiencies but never act on it!!
The comparisons are obvious but I agree it is best avoided!! The 1983 world cup side had bowling all rounders, who were excellent fielders at any position...Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, Madan Lal, Ravi Shahstri had the ability to contain the batsmen with their bowling and fielding......one day cricket, at the end of the day is about containment not contentment!!

Let us hope we manage to replicate Pakistan's victory over Aussies..

ICC World Cup: Better to be underdogs!!

The expectations are set in accordance to your seeding in the tournament...an underdog or dark horse status helps!! it helps the team stay focussed on the job at hand, get the basics right and not create harakiri. Our Indian cricket team will be able to relate to it better than others...after all, they won the Prudential cup when they were rank outsiders and no one including the team itself gave it a chance. The current team billed as the favourites, may have qualified for the knock out, but have exposed their brittle bowling attack and sloppy fielding in all their matches. 
Please note that we have had a last ball tie with England, lost to South Africa , allowed B'desh to score more than 250, and had hiccups chasing N'lands. The bowling always looks up to Zaheer for initial breakthrough and Bhajji to strike in the middle order...the rest are just going through their motions!! Winning a world cup does not mean that you score approx 300 in each game...it needs a allround effort in bowling and fielding too!! batting power play gives one the opportunity to find the gaps or go over the top...not blast 4's and 6's. The passion may be there bu the roles and responsibilities of individuals and the team seems to be vaguely defined..sometimes a standard approach may be better than a unconventional one!!