Synopsis: Performance builds on self-belief.
Success, it seems, emanates from a strong group identity, and not necessarily from the origins of its individual members. This outlook works as well on the playing field as it does in the management circles. Belief in the self and others is at the core of effective decision-making. Belief diffuses into the group to bind each member to the common cause, inspiring unknowns to reach for the stars. Conversely the lack of belief drops stars into the doldrums.
At the Champions League club cricket tournament ongoing in India, a group of committed players from the Caribbean islands are proving their assertion, “We believe in ourselves”. Despite the management-versus-players turmoil in the West Indies leaving the sport in that country in tatters, provisional T&T initially shocked the IPL titleholders, the Deccan Chargers composed of international stars from several continents. They went on to win against other formidable opponents. In the clash between two homogeneous groups, they scored over the Australian might of New South Wales Blues, despite pre-match predictions by experts of the other side winning comfortably.
These players are emblazoning their colours on the world stage backing one another to the hilt. The strategy is simple – don’t await the inevitable, make things happen your way. Their captain banks on the unexpected to turn the tide with the tools he has available. The order of batting or bowling attack is being shuffled around; individual passion and intensity is never curtailed, but used to the full to achieve the common objective. “He say, we do” becomes the common expression of their purpose. Failure is not for a lack of trying. If one falls in the endeavour, another steps up to the plate. The strength of the T&T thinktank is an astute awareness of contextual changes in the here and now. Spectators are beginning to believe in them too.
The absence of this fluid knowledge is obvious in the blinkered focus of the established management boards. Their high expectation of a single outcome in all situations does little to facilitate players adapting to new environments. Afflicted with fears of failure, the stars resort to unthinking, repetitive and ineffectual behaviour. Stress shows in the slowness to react or change strategy to circumstances during matches. Unable to cope with the pressures of performance, many are found wanting in their mental applications at crunch time – for examples, Ishant Sharma, who burst on the scene a year ago, now teeters on the edge of burnout. The poor showing of the Indian squad in the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy tournaments especially in bowling and fielding is causing concerns.
Traditional wisdom requires that heads roll. The group of old men at the helm of cricket management has got busy with the ‘solution’ of apportioning blame. They have found available scapegoats in the bowling and fielding coaches and have sacked them with immediate effect - by email. [Across the border, despite the Pakistani cricket team having won the T20 World Cup, the standing committee for sports (read politicians) of that country pinned responsibility for their team’s exit in the Champions Trophy to match fixing by the captain, the coach… and India!]
The trouble with pointing a finger at someone else is that three fingers point straight back at you. Focused on the single outcome of winning, the blinkered brains trust forgets the environment, the value of the support system and even the players’ wellbeing. In a country frenzied by cricket, every tournament thought up – IPL and the Champions League - has been a money-spinner. On the flipside, it has inevitably taken toll on the physical and mental health of individual players.
The very coaches that have quietly nurtured the upswing of Indian cricket, especially the turnaround in the trying circumstances of Australia, are now being vilified. In all that time the powers-that-be had not bothered to acknowledge their contributions or even offer them the ethical courtesy of fulltime contracts. Players thrown into non-stop cricket have helped fill the board’s coffers, but with little time to rest and recoup, revisit the basics to correct flaws or even improve technically. The authoritarian rule of the establishments simply demonstrates their lack of belief in others and more importantly, in their own earlier decisions. These people need to take a closer look at what makes the minnows dare to become giant killers.
