LAGAAN 1893 @ GABBA 2021

Cricket lovely cricket, I love you!

As a huge lover of cricket, today was special. And it was for so many reasons. Because I grew up in a country and family that was poor, somehow, the Lagaan story always found a somatic address within me. Today was one such victory. The Indian teams victory so mirrored the Aamir movie. Indian team, as Aamir mentioned in Lagaan, unke liye yeh khel hai, humare liye humari izzat, humara bhaivishya. At Gabba, it was a given, even the best of Indian team would have struggled. This team akin to the Aamir Khan Lagaan team stood no chance. Experts debated under how many days, three or four. And to top this, India lost the toss. And dropped Labuschange twice. And when we went out to bat in the second innings – like the day two of Lagaan movie – draw seemed victory. And victory? No chance said most. Unlike Lagaan, we didn’t have one Aamir. We had several. And within it so many uncanny resemblances to the market.

I learnt a lot from working as head of research with Rajesh Jhunjhunwala. One quote in his office by Voltaire taught me a lot, “doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” And today’s victory at Gabba came against all doubts. Why? Mark Waugh, Michael Vaughan, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin (I had presented a MOM award to him in Kochi) and event hr greatest of them Allan Border gave this Indian team no chance after 36 all out early on. Experts were certain. India had no chance. And they cannot not always be right. To try to predict the future with ‘certainty’ is absurd. If you hear Rakesh Bhaiya’s interview, he always qualifies his predictions with…. ‘I reserve the right to be wrong’. Not all have his humility. And when David beats Goliath on the back of one-sided certainty, victory not just smells better, but tastes great.

Post Virat’s paternity leave post the loss, it looked hopeless. Like markets in March. Look at the markets now, and the scoreline today 2-1. Who would have thought! For me both the markets and the scoreline indicate a new India. Vrender Sehwag’s message on Insta said it all… “Yeh naya Bharat hai…hum ghar mein guske maarta hain.” The new age retail investor did the same to Indian markets despite massive mutual fund outflows.

Indian cricket is in good hands. Great hands. Thanks to the experiment launched by Lalit Modi in 2008 called IPL, it has given to India and Indian cricket lovers, something no other tournament has given no other sport in no other country. Again, capitalism at play, like markets. When it comes to money, money matters, follows talent. What IPL has done for Indian cricket, and Indian talent including support staff is like the Mastercard tagline, priceless. Thank you Lalit Modi from a cricket fan.

We played fearless cricket today. As I said, we had several Aamir Khan in today’s Lagaan:

I saw Shubhman Gill hooking Starc for a six, uppercut to Cummins for a six and coming down to Lyon for six. These are not just any bowlers, the best in business; 1000 test wickets amongst them. And Gill in his second test! Pricessless! Fearless! And then Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur: what can one say? From Net bowlers to playing to taking 10 wickets and two 50s between them. This partnership got us right back. Priceless? Or Fearless! Natrajan, Saini and Md. Siraj! Indian pace attack with Sundar taking 20 Australian wickets. Pricessless and fearless. And then Pujara. Reminded me of Harlod Larwood, Doughlas Jardine and the Bodyline series. 10 blows to the body at 145 miles per hours of 5.75 ounces leather. Fearless. And then Rishab Pant. Everyone doubted him as a match winner. His keeping. His aggression was questioned. And he did a MS Dhoni today! And then MSD = Rahane. What leadership. Calm and fearless. Let the result do the talking. Talk less, do more. Take a bow Jinks.

Time for a split captaincy? Rahane for Test. Rohit for ODI. Virat for T20?

A huge shout out to Rahul Dravid for playing the unsung hero by training all these young guns as Coach of U-19 and India A. Selflessly, without any press. Quietly and consistently giving back. And to Sourav Ganguly. We now have a cricketer as an Administrator who will fight for the men on the line. And to VVS and to Sehwag for talking passionately about cricket on air. And on social media. The past working with the present for the future. Of cricket. By cricket. For cricket. And to Indian cricket fans belief in this team. We did not throw chappals, burn effigy and abused our team after 36 all out. We understood. And in that understanding, we supported. Take a bow. Everyone.

So many similarities to markets and risk. Never say never. Never give up. One day at a time. Rakesh bhaiya used to tell us, your patience will be tested but your conviction will be rewarded. Like team India. Same in markets, there will be bad days; days when your blue chips won’t perform; some new stocks will do well; against all odds; diversification of portfolio; have large caps (Virat, Rohit, Rahane, Ashwin, Bumrah, Shami), defensive stocks (Pujara, Mayank, Umesh), mid-caps (Pant, Hardik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Saha) and emerging stars (Gill, Sundar, Saini, Natarajan, Saini). And stay with the portfolio.

Today’s victory put India once again back to number one in test rankings. The bigger story was beyond numbers. Once again like the movie Lagaan. I hope Aamir makes one on this victory. Or someone.

And it has once and for all – I hope – laid to rest the ‘chokers’ tag. It has also brought to light the arrogance of some Australians, and racism too. World of cricket will look at them differently from now on. India was no Aamir Khan’s team. And Australia was Captain Russel’s team. It was how the world perceived India before Gabba. Their mistake. Their introspection.

India is happy. India is celebrating. India is moving on to England.

Enjoy these lyrics by Javed Akhtar from Lagaan.

Har Sant Kahe, Saadhu Kahe, Sach Aur Saahas Hai Jiske Mann Mein

Ant Mein Jeet Usiki Rahe....

Aaja Re Aaja Re, Aaja Re Aaja Re, Bhale Kitne Lambe Ho Raste, Ho

Thake Na Tera Yeh Tan, Ho...

O Mitwa, Sun Mitwa, Tujhko Kya Darr Hai Re,

Dharti Apni Hai, Apna Ambar Hai Re, Tu Aaja Re…

Cricket lovely cricket, I love you! AHA!