Unforgiving to the falling God!

Just in case you’ve not noticed yet, I am an ardent Sachin Tendulkar fan. This unconditional admiration comes from years of watching Sachin as well as watching cricket in general. Reasons are several, but the most prominent and matter of fact ones are the amount of runs & centuries he has scored for the country at the average he has scored; the balance & beauty of his batting style; and the dignity and poise at which he has conducted himself both on and off the field for two and a half decades. I’ve been accused of insanity and blind devotion by the same people who often swear by my rationality and pragmatism. But how can one not be devoted to someone who, as an individual has taught me about ‘challenges’, ‘meeting expectations’, ‘hard work’, ‘perseverance’, ‘greatness’ and most importantly about ‘balance’. If a teacher like that is not akin to God, then there is something wrong with, “Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara; Guru Saakshaat Para Barhma, Tasmai Shri Gruve Namah”  (Guru is verily the representative of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He creates, sustains knowledge and destroys the weeds of ignorance. I salute such a Guru).

Not many, including those who consider Sachin as God view him from this perspective. At this point in time, I encounter various schools of thoughts. Worth mentioning are two groups. There is a group which thinks that his cricketing contribution is not big enough, there are better players than him. And then there is a group that says his cricketing contribution is more than enough to call him a God of cricket. With the former group, I’ve debated so many times with stats and figures to win the argument that I’ve lost the interest in doing so anymore. Frankly, it doesn’t seem important to me now to argue with them because I’ve realized that no amount of data and numbers will ever defeat a cynic – after all, “shaq ka ilaaj to hakeem Lukmaan ke pass bhi nahi tha” (even the best doctor does not have a cure for a doubtful person).  

The latter group, however, the one that views Sachin as God for his Centuries and Runs, is the one I’m worried about the most. Not about what will happen to them when Sachin fails to deliver on their expectations, but what they will do to Sachin once he stops meeting their expectations. I was recently told by a friend, philosopher and quide – a great teacher himself – that “something that is more spectacular than watching a God being made, is watching a God fall.” It is foolhardy to expect that Sachin Tendulkar will never stop performing. That is an inevitable. The time between when he stops performing and finally decides to hang his boots will be the time when these people will switch fences shamelessly and come back at Sachin with a vengeance. Sadly, I think that time has come. 

Last few of his international innings have shown that his age is catching up. Barring a few shots, his timing is not the same. This impacts his ability to play on the up and across the line. The innovator and a master of paddle sweep, the tormentor of Shane Warne when he was in his prime is finding it difficult to negotiate a turning ball. His second inning dismissal in Mumbai test against England, where he compensated his first inning clean bowled by taking an off-stump guard and eventually getting out LBW, shows that he is not able to put the bat on to that ball. Reflexes are like hair on your head, they leave you with the age. I feel Sachin, more than anyone else realises that and have expressed it to the selectors in a subtle manner, “I’m not making runs, do you think I can continue?” In heart of his hearts he knows that he is not the same little master (or a 'little champion' that Sunny Gavaskar refers to him in defiance, since 'little master' is a title Sunny felt has been taken away from him).

Sachin will probably play few more matches and if he is lucky he’ll score a century or two from here, but it is time for me to finally say that he and India is ready for him to make way for younger talent. For me there was a life to cricket before Sachin and I am pretty certain that there would be life to cricket after Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar as well. But an enigma called Sachin Tendulkar will always find a special place in my heart and soul. I am a bit worried, because as much as I admire Sachin as a cricketer and as a teacher, I know there are a lot of people who are Unforgiving to the God, especially at the time when God falls!!!

© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)

The game of the Equilibrium

There are various theories about ‘the need of a balance’ as has been spoken and written about length in various contexts - about the ecological balance as a prerequisite for human survival, about the duality concept in quantum physics  and also about the balance of negative and positive forces as described in various spiritual and mythological scriptures of the world. All of these theories address a fundamental need of keeping an optimum mix of two diametrically opposite representations, which lie at the two ends of the spectrum. The moment you shift in either direction, i.e. focus on one and ignore the other, you disturb the equilibrium and you risk harsh consequences, and at times put your survival at stake…

The fundamentals of these theories was put to test by Delhi Daredevils team in their 2^nd qualifier match for IPL 2012 against Chennai Super Kings and the results were expectantly consistent and rather rude.

Cricket, irrespective of the format (i.e. Test, One Day or T20) is basically the game of bat and ball. You have eleven players and a set of rules to create the optimum balance between the bat and ball in order to do well in the sport. You miss this balance either way, and you are consigned to defeat and left to sulk in a dressing room, licking your wounds. In the match in question, Morne Morkel, the highest wicket taker of the tournament and a lethal weapon on the bouncy and otherwise stale Chennai track, was left out rather unceremoniously.  The reason quoted for this catastrophic judgement was that, with Irfan out due to injury you had to have another (so called) all rounder in the team without sacrificing a batsman. The replacement was identified in Andre Russel in this case and it meant that the Daredevils of Delhi had batting up to eight but was short of a quality bowler. They say that there is a thin line between being bold and being stupid and this dividing line is generally called ‘the result’. However, sometimes you do not need a ‘result’ to identify the difference. This was one such occasion… the rest, as they say is history.

The fundamentals of these theories are applicable universally in every sphere of our lives. Various sports streams, politics and corporate are no exception. However, unfortunately this theory is put to test constantly across the board. The applications in sports is easy to understand, for example it is easy to assess what will happen to a football team who have nine attackers and two defenders, or what will happen to a table tennis player who has the speed but no accuracy etc.

The theory also has an interesting way of proving itself in Corporate or a Business set up. There are basically three constituents of any business – The Shareholders, The Employees and The Customers. Intrinsically the interests of the shareholders and the customers at a very fundamental level are diametrically opposite. The shareholder interest is profit maximisation - so the best scenario for him is to create a product with least cost and sell it to a customer on a highest value; similarly a customer would be best off by buying a product which has the highest value for him at the lowest cost. If the shareholders and the customers are at the two opposite ends of the scale, then the employees are the fulcrum which provides the balance between the two and create value for both these constituents.

The position of this fulcrum (i.e. of the Employees in a corporate) is basically decided by the function in which the employee is working. For example, a sales rep will be closer to the customer and hence focussing more on the customer need and consequently lifting the Customers' side up and causing the Shareholders' side down. Similarly an employee in a control function, say in audit and compliance role, whose job essentially is to protect against any losses, is working more in the interest of the shareholder and often creating processes and controls which a customer may not like. A conflict between these two sets of employees is imminent and regular. This is not to say that both these employees are at the wrong place and both of them should be at the centre to provide the balance and avoid conflict all together. On the contrary they have to be at their respective places to provide a balance and strength that is required. Their conflicts and its resolution provides this balance which is essential for a corporate to function optimally. The moral of the story is that the optimal balance does not come alone by having the fulcrum in the centre. The balance and stability comes when the multiple fulcrums of equal strength are placed at various distance which allows for constructuve conflicts.

The situation is no different in the game of Cricket. A captain and team management in the game of cricket play their role in deciding the playing eleven. Quite clearly, the captains of Delhi Daredevils and the team management did not identify and place right fulcrums in their IPL 2012 final match with Chennai Super Kings in Chennai yesterday.

© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)

It's time for the seniors to hang up their boots... or, is it?

The Indian team has had a consecutive drubbing and whitewash in tests, first at the hands of England and now Australia. An 4-0, 4-0 score-line doesn’t look good in any sport, and especially in cricket – given our best-ever batting line-up, arguably – this is shameful if not downright disgraceful. With legends like Sachin, Dravid and Laxman leading the charge and other greats-in-the-making like Sehwag and Gambhir, not doing themselves and their nation a single favour in the just concluded down under tests, there have been a lot of cries for their heads. In a recent poll by a leading media-house, even Sachin Tendulkar, the God of cricket, has 1/3rd Indians rooting for his removal from the test team here on!

I was pondering over the same, and wondering whether as a nation we have such impatience built into our DNA, or do we have such short memories that we forget and overlook the achievements of these same cricketers of very recent past, which we were revelling in and celebrating. Why, just a month ago, Rahul Dravid was second only to God, having scored the maximum test runs in the world in 2011, with 5 centuries coming last year itself, in the process becoming only the second batsman after Tendulkar to score 13,000 test runs in the history of cricket. Just a few months ago in November 2011, Laxman was being hailed as the unsung hero of Indian cricket, when he scored 176* against the West Indies in the 2nd Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, which India won by an innings and 15 runs. And what can one say about Tendulkar? Yes, he’s had a very strange & longest-ever run of 22 test innings without a century, but watching him bat in 2011 was pure magic. His elusive century of centuries notwithstanding, the man looks 20 years younger in his aggression and stroke-play, and such is his batting prowess right now that even one of his harshest critics like me is left wondering if his detractors have chosen the right time for seeking his departure.

As regards Sehwag, all I’ll submit is that the man plays like the way he plays. You can love him or hate him for it, but you can’t ignore him. A proof of his genius & dangerous abilities lies in his ODI world record double century in 2011, which made him only the second batsman after Sachin to achieve the feat. This, of course, is not made in a test match and purists may argue this is comparing apples to oranges, but his innings still is testimony to the way he bats in any form of cricket, and I’d happily pay every time to watch him play. His opening partner, Gambhir has struggled in tests the whole of 2011, but if one is to look at what he provides to the team, one look at his ODI average of 56.90 in 2011 – including his World Cup Final winning inning of 97 – is enough to demonstrate his class. Not for any other reason was he the most valued player at $ 2.4 mn of the IPL auction of 2011.

Moving away from these 5 great men, I’d also like to spend a minute here on our captain, M.S. Dhoni – the man with the Midas Touch. He’s done so much for India’s glory in the past 3 ½ years at the helm – winning the T20 World Cup, winning the ODI World Cup, and taking India to Numero Uno in Test rankings – that it is almost blasphemous for him to be castigated the way he’s being castigated for his uninspiring captaincy and failure with the bat. One would do well to remember that he’s no bunny with the blade. In fact, he scored a big & brisk century in November 2011 in the Kolkata test innings victory against Windies, and still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket. It may be time to infuse younger, less tired hands behind the stumps, but I feel that India needs to persist with Dhoni as a batsman and the shrewd captain.

Yes, India has not been doing well in away tests. But the reason lies beyond our batsmen. Yes, they have failed individually and as a unit. But our bowlers haven’t also done anything to write home about. We’ve not been able to take 20 wickets to win a match. In fact, the pressure of chasing humongous totals by the Aussies in almost every match has overcome our batsmen, and cut through their nerves and gut. The fielders also haven’t done much to prevent the run-riot of the Australians. So, why lay the blame at the batsmen’s door only and ask them to leave?

It is time for some introspection about what all ails the team, and how the World’s No. 1 Test Team has declined so suddenly and so steadily. Part of the blame rests with the cricketers, but there are enough questions around preparing the right pitches at home for preparing the team to play on bouncy wickets abroad, the team training & mentoring process, the selection policy that needs to focus on the future without giving up the present, et al. All these are grave pressures that the team has to encounter, and adding to the pressure that our players already face is our nation’s obsession with winning everything or being damned. I’m particularly amused and curious about the last one, since I rarely come across such passion in personal lives of people. How come we don’t measure ourselves with the same yardstick that we use for measuring our cricketers? How come we don’t care about being the best and winners in everything we do, or at least in our chosen professions? Why, there are so many times, we don’t even try! And yet, we have the obnoxious arrogance to pronounce death to our heroes who’ve done so much for Indian cricket and our personal happiness in the past!!!

So, let’s not jump to any sentimental & irrational conclusions and ask for heads to roll for these losses, unless we get to the root cause of the same and work towards removing that cause rather than our players. For, if we don’t do that and go ahead and take short and easy measures like removing a few off-colour players, we’ll be akin to the Mad Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, who keeps shouting “off with her head” without a single right reason, and without a single right cause being served by the same.

© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)