Twenty/20 Hindsight: Reflections Beyond Cricket

What a wonderful spectacle has the Indian Premier League (IPL) been this year!  More than half the games have been completed.  Yet, it is nigh impossible to predict the eventual winner.  Young cricketers have dazzled on the big stage without seemingly projecting any of the nerves that are associated with high-stakes contests.  There have been a few predictable victories.  But there have been several surprises, some pleasant (depending on your allegiance) and others not so.  But beyond the actual cricket, beyond the frenetic pace of the games, there were several vignettes and snapshots that made me pause, to reflect. 

An image that will remain with me for a long time is Rahul Dravid on a wheelchair, showing up for Rajasthan Royals as the coach.  One could, of course, make a case for not romanticizing these kinds of instances where one may be unnecessarily pushing themselves, when rest maybe better for their body.  But knowing Dravid, he would have weighed his options and listened to medical counsel before deciding that his presence, despite his injury, would not aggravate his pain.  A coach pushing himself to go that extra mile to mentor a young team, is a leadership lesson unto itself.  With Dravid, this reputation was not built overnight.  We have watched him for nearly 30 years now.  Unfussy expression of fierce commitment has been his hallmark for three decades now.  Long after his playing days, the veteran continues to be an inspiration.

Another veteran Krish Srikkanth demonstrated something which is increasingly rare these days: the willingness to apologize with sincerity.  In a Q&A session, in order to express his disagreement with another analyst’s (Prasanna aka Pdogg) reading of the game, he essentially pulled rank and dismissed the latter’s opinion.  But in a subsequent episode of the show, he apologized sincerely for saying what he did in the heat of the moment.  Unequivocally.  No qualifiers.  No excuses.  Just a plain, simple and honest apology.  As an ardent admirer of Srikkanth, I found it heartwarming to witness his disarmingly candid approach as a critic.

Candid criticism, of course, has been flowing as freely as water through a dam with defective floodgates, in the case of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).  One is being wise after the event, when discussing the auction strategy and team selections.  But beyond the raw emotion displayed by disappointed fans, it is equally important to be in tune with changing times, adapt to newer styles and pick horses for courses.  There was a time when India was not playing the kind of unfettered T20 cricket that others were playing with great success.  Results were dismal.  Rohit Sharma took it upon himself to walk the talk, playing the kind of aggressive cricket that injected a fresh shot of adrenaline into the batting.  CSK needs that kind of metamorphosis with a leader who is willing to risk his talent, go for broke and enabling a pivot in terms of the team’s strategy.  We see in the professional setting how an inspirational leader, especially one who walks the talk with sincerity and authenticity, can truly lift a team's spirits when the chips are down.  They can do that by not only setting the vision or a strategic shift but by demonstrating the implementation of that in their own actions.  Their actions inspire multifold when compared to mere words.  

CSK needs to look no further than Mumbai Indians, led by the enterprising Hardik Pandya.  The team was in the doldrums a few weeks ago.  But they have played a fearless brand of cricket, with their bowling spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult complementing the scintillating batting efforts.  When I follow their games, I do not see them doing anything crazy.  They have not shaken up their team composition significantly.  They are just sticking to the basics unwaveringly.  Their stars aligning and shining brightly are not accidental.  But a result of excelling at the fundamentals, which may seem like basic textbook knowledge but is just not executed as often as it should be.

Speaking of textbooks, a school kid has just scored the second fastest ever century in the IPL at an age where books, Bournvita and bonding with friends over street cricket form the trifecta of every cricket-crazy kid’s existence in India! (The last two certainly did for this writer.)  Vaibhav Suryavanshi is at an age (14) where he can barely shut his eyes off the glare of the spotlight that has been shining on him ever since he made his debut. 

A lot has been written over the years about the perils and pitfalls of overnight stardom.  What I think is just as important is providing kids like Suryavanshi a conducive environment to flourish.  In the workplace, we speak of psychological safety.  How it is just as important as physical safety.  It is true across fields of work, study and sport.  In order for one to thrive, one has to feel the confidence that someone has his or her back.  That they have the space to find and show up with their authentic self.  For kids at an impressionable age or for professionals, especially in the early to middle stages of their career, it is so crucial to make them feel like they belong.  That their voice matters.  That they have the environment that will celebrate their successes and will lend a shoulder when they fail. (Suryavanshi just scored a zero yesterday.  That’s okay, kid.  You will learn from this zero more than you did from your century.) Just as important as lessons that are taught are those lessons that are gained from lived-in experience.  And for one to learn those experiential lessons, it behooves the ones around them to give them the platform to learn.  After all, a learning platform is the foundation for excellence at the big stage.

As we enter the final few weeks of this exciting tournament, there may be more surprises in store for us.  There may be lessons too.  For the cricketers and for us.  We just need to take a few minutes for them to sink in.  Life sometimes happens at the kind of breakneck speed as a Suryavanshi century.  But we owe it to ourselves to press the pause button, to reflect, to rejoice and to remind ourselves to see the bigger picture, regardless of the size of our TV screen!  After all, even a fast-paced T-20 game allows the teams an opportunity for a 2:30-minute Ceat Tyres strategic timeout!