Dictating your vision

Back in the day, Virender Sehwag used to earn the ire of his teammates and fans alike for playing rash shots at the wrong times. Rumor has it that coach John Wright once grabbed Sehwag by the collar in anger after he played a less than sensible shot.

In the recent past, Rishab Pant has been at the receiving end of criticism for playing rash shots as well. In both cases, the criticism isn't that they got out. A batsman can get out to great deliveries as well, not just poor shot selection. But the anger was more for the fact that they chose a shot that went against what the team required at that point.

The coach and captain can tell a player what is expected of them. Sometimes, strategy can also change depending on conditions. If a player in the middle feels the pitch isn't as treacherous as they thought it was, they can go for shots instead of defending. As long as they keep the ultimate objective of the team in mind, how they go about executing it can change.

Now, imagine if the coach were to dictate how to play every delivery to the player. If after each ball, he sent the 12th man to the middle to give the player instructions. The player would lose motivation very quickly as they've lost all autonomy. Rahul Dravid can't force Rishab Pant to play in a certain manner. He can guide him, coach him and tell him what the team's requirements are. But if he were to create a manual dictating how he needs to play, Pant will become a shadow of himself.

Sure, sometimes leaders/coaches need to step in and course-correct but if that's a way of life, it gets stifling for everyone.

There's a difference between guiding people towards a vision and dictating your vision.