The Royal Ganguly snub and a few lessons...

These are hard times for Sourav Ganguly. Similarly, these are hard times for me to keep my objectivity intact for purely cricket reasons.

Tough to understand why Sourav, who displayed one of the best batting performances in the last IPL edition (Amongst the top 5 run getters with an impressive strike rate) get ruthlessly snubbed in the IPL auction.

First inference is that he was snubbed not on the basis of performance.

Was he snubbed because of his age?

Not really!! Warnie, Gilchrist, Dravid & Laxman also found place in the auction.

Was it because of his larger than life approach to cricket?

Naaah!!!! Remember his performance in the Sri Lanka tour after his comeback from a considerable break due to a spat with Aussie Dimwit 'Greg Chappel'. He integrated with the team fabric in an effortless manner and even won the 'Man of the series' award.


Was it because he doesnot gell well with Aussie coaches (Most of the team coaches in IPL are from the Aussie land)?

Maybe Yes!!!

Whatever be the reason, here are a few lessons one can learn from the 'Royal Snub':

• Be careful of your image: His 'Prince of Kolkata' image probably went against him. Team management might have found him tough to be handled.

• There is nothing like 'over-communication': Ganguly is an honourable man, yet he should have seeked complete information from various teams to gauge their interest in buying him.Only after that he should have made himself available for the auction.(He could have also gone the Kumble way)

• Honour versus Idealism: Shahrukh Khan extended the olive branch to him offering a chief mentor role in KKR. He has not been very kind to the request. But if he truly cares about KKR then he might just accept the role of a mentor and play an integral role in fulfilling KKR's mission of 'Korbo..Lorbo..Jeetbo Re!!!(We will do..fight & win)' .Of course with KKR in context, there would have been too many mentors and there is certainly nothing official about it.Saurav is intelligent and let him decide the rest.

• Keep the passion on!!!: If the intent and passion is right then many seemingly significant (otherwise insignificant) outcomes do not matter in long run. His fans will always love him. His critics will always make ridiculous judgements. But he will be respected by all forever and beyond. Till now his batting did the talking. It's time his silence does the talking. And if he ever gets the bat he will ROAR!!! In the true ROYAL BENGAL STYLE!!!!
  

Jai Ho Sachin!!!!!!

20 years of glorious cricket, prodigious feats, perseverance that matches only those of a few and a simplicity that is contagious. My understanding about Sachin is limited to this and I am equally sure that whatever little I understand about Sachin is worthy of being a huge reservoir of learning.

Let me share my learning from this great cricketer-

• Humbleness: I recently read one of his quote 'Statistically, I have passed Don Bradman but I can't be compared with him.' This speaks volumes about this man. Did Don Bradman score most number of runs, most number of hundreds, did he play for 20 long years????? Well the answer is 'No'. But does Don Bradman deserve this much respect from Sachin???? The answer is 'Yes!! Certainly'. A lot of players won't give a monkey toss to such legends but Sachin is different. He is 'rightfully' different. He is as great as Sir Don Bradman if not more. [I hope Sreesanth is reading this post ;-)].
• Dream with the right purposeful action: He has often been quoted saying that it was his dream to become an Indian Cricketer. One of his special moment still remains his debut match against Pakistan where even his opponents found him promising. Wearing the Indian cap was not the end. It was a beginning to a journey that still delights fans like me 20 glorious years later.
• Team spirit: Sachin played some of his best knocks under the captaincy of cricketers who joined the team much later like Saurav [my favorite], Dravid, Dhoni etc. but he still played his game with great passion and tenacity. He rates his 98 runs scored against Pakistan during the World Cup that was very instrumental in India's win as one of his best knocks. His individual interest never superseded his team's success. Team always came first.
• Focus: Consider this quote 'I hate losing and cricket being my first love, once I enter the ground it's a different zone altogether and that hunger for winning is always there.' I feel he lives this statement every time he comes on the field. I am sure he would not have lived this statement without lazor sharp focus.
• Do your best and leave the rest to God: Now consider this statement ' I just keep it simple. I watch the ball and play it on merit. I want to give my six hours of serious cricket on the ground and then take whatever the result.' In any profession, it is important not to complicate oneself with too many thoughts. Success in flawless execution lies in simplicity in thoughts and great belief in translating those thoughts into action. Sachin personifies that.
• Right amount of preparation is the key: I always felt that Sachin's confidence comes from his impeccable and sincere preparation. This quote sums it up again ' At least with me, the match starts much, much earlier than the actual match.'
• Don't complain, rather work on the next opportunity: There are number of times Sachin has been declared out for no valid reasons [most of them being LBWs, a few run outs and that catch by Jonty Rhodes]. But he came back stronger in the next few matches. He did complain but through his bat.

I wholeheartedly salute Sachin for teaching us professionalism through the beautiful game of cricket. He made it look even more beautiful.

Jai Ho Sachin!!!!!!!!

Note: Quotes and the photo was obtained from www.rediff.com and http://www.sachintendulkar.in

Got quoted in Indian Express.

I got quoted in Indian Express for my comments on IPL tournament. This is the second time I got quoted in this academic year after being quoted in Hindu[Metro Plus] few months back. Please click on this link to find the E-Paper version.

In case the link does not work then paste the following in your URL:
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=New+venue+and+still+happy?&artid=dgJkoktTzuA=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=rSY6QYp3kQ=&SEO=

Multiple Captains for Kolkata Knightriders-A relook at Fayol's unity of command...

I am a huge fan of Kolkata Knightriders. I remember cheering for them along with my family in the last season. It was dissapointing that they could not even reach the finals of this high profile tournament. But then the win in their last match proved to be a consolation prize for me.

KKR coach John Buchanan today announced that there would be multiple captains for IPL 2. It would be shared between Ganguly, West Indian Chris Gayle , New Zealand's explosive opener Brendon McCullum and Australian Brad Hodge.

Now that goes against the Fayol's principle of unity of command. But here we are considering a cricket team and not a corporate set up. There is a completely different dynamics at play. I wonder if the West Indies team at it's peak or the famed Aussies during their world cup dominance or the current Indian team which continues to bash the New Zealand team has ever followed even one of the Fayol's principles.

The only thing which produced the results for those teams were cohesive team work that produced the desired synergy along with the right talent and the lazor sharp focus to WIN!!!!!!!

I think when any team gets absorbed with these three[team work,lazor sharp focus and right talent], they get too preoccupied to think of any of the principles by any thought leader.

But then unlike sports, in corporate these three do not get right and hence they resort to Principles of managements by thought leaders. It certainly helps too.

I hope that this sort of multiple captaincy practice has been thought out after a good amount of rational discussion by the leadership team[Buchanan,Saurav,Shahrukh etc] and is not an innovative practice for the sake of being innovative in itself.

Since the decision has been already taken, I hope the leaders of KKR take full ownership for the decision and try their level best to win IPL-2.

Only the results of IPL-2 will decide that whether we will give it a serious thought to include Mr Buchanan's principles of management in the B-School syllabus.
-Saikat Saha
[A Kolkata Knight Rider Fan]

P.S- Go for Gold...Be a Kolkata Knight Rider...Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re