CRICKET AND MANAGEMENT LESSONS

MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM CRICKET

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MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM CRICKET

I recall that majestic innings by Sunil Gavaskar at Chepauk in 1979 when he scored 169 runs against Pakistan. What struck me was the way he walked to the pavilion at the end of an innings of high character. He several times kicked himself ,hit his bat to his pads, spat on the ground and overall seemed to be extremely angry with himself for making a silly error that cost him his wicket. Most other players might have been content with such a marathon match winning innings.

Two decades or so later I heard Kapil Dev—another icon—telling an interviewer what he felt about cricketers in different parts of India. He said that cricketers from Mumbai were very high on talent and good on motivation. Delhi guys he felt were very high on motivation but modest on talent .East India he stated was just ok on talent and motivation. The South was medium on both the parameters.

One can dispute this but I came across a recent instance of this being explored in some more detail by W.V. Raman who has a ringside view of players from Tamilnadu and West Bengal. Raman was the TN coach for the Ranji team and is now doing the same job for Kolkatta. He is in a unique position to make a comparative study of these two teams.

He says that Tamilnadu players seem to take it easy much like Kolkatta players. In comparison Mumbai cricketers work very hard at their game. Even going to the match venue would mean to a Mumbai cricketer several hours of travel in extremely crowded trains. In contrast TN players will drive in flashy cars even to a league match. There is also is a lack of killer instinct in TN and Kolkatta players. This is reflected in their inability to go beyond the semis of many a tournament and to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, a feat that Mumbai and Delhi teams do frequently. I cannot forget that Ranji final when Delhi had to score over 600 to win the match and they did it. Most other teams would have given up right at the start.

As for innovation Raman says that a TN bowler will religiously bowl just outside the off stump to a batsman all day hoping and praying that the batsman makes a mistake. But a Mumbai batsman will leave such a ball even when he is sleeping says Raman .Should the TN bowler bring the ball in, a man like Jaffer will non chalantly flick to square leg and score runs. At the end of the day TN players will tell themselves that they worked hard but luck did not favour them—this is my guess .Raman adds that TN bowlers will not be innovative and try

variations to dislodge the batsman.

The irony is that there is no dearth of talent in TN and indeed in all parts of the country.

As in many other fields talent alone is not enough. Attitude is key and this encompasses motivation .

K.R.RAVI

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