A team of Champions and a Champion Team - Lessons in Leadership

What a day for India Jan 19th 2021. This day is going to be etched in our minds forever alongside another June 25th 1983 the day India won the World Cup for the very first time.

On Dec 19th 2020 India made an overall total of 36runs for 10 wickets. This was one of the lowest totals ever made by a team in our cricketing history. That could be about as low as things could get. But, exactly a month later on Jan 19th 2021 the indian team went on to win the very same series 2-1.

Effecting a turnaround after losing the first match with such a measly total, is in itself the stuff movies are made of. But when we take into account the playing 11 for india a bunch of greenhorns, net bowlers and stand-in batsmen this victory becomes something much much bigger. Infact the only senior players in the winning indian side were Pujara, Rohit and Ajinkya all others were down with injuries.

In one month the indian team in Australia came a long long way.

Consider the facts.

At Brisbane the bowlers for india were Washington, Shardul, Natarajan, Siraj none had played more than 3 tests at international level. This bunch bowled out Australia twice in their un-breachable fortress The Gabba.

They were pitted against a top quality Australian pace attack comprising of bowlers who between them have taken 1000+ wickets in international cricket. The indian bowlers quartet had taken a total of 11 international wickets going into the match.

As Harsha Bhogle mentioned while referring to the Aussy team it was a Team of Champions against a Champion Team. The indian team came together as one unit and performed better.

This is where the lessons of leadership come in. The grit of Pujara, the risky yet effective shot selections of Pant & Gill and behind it all the calm yet deliberate aggression of Ajinkya Rahane - 'Jinks' to most.

This unassuming , black belt in Karate is a master who has led the indian team whenever the opportunity has presented itself and won everytime. Under his captaincy this team of stand-ins have pulled out one of the greatest wins in cricket history.

A lesson that we can take from this victory is that a teams performance need not rest on the shoulders of stars. There is a place for stars but there is also a place for the ordinary, the unknowns who have the fire , the desire, the attitude and the will to win. The leader just needs to create the positive environment and get out of the way.

Going through the Indian team line one could'nt help thinking of the similarity it had to the rag tag team in that epic Lagaan.

This last match of the 20-21 series in Australia is going to be written about and spoken about for a long long time. Many a learning can be taken from this triumph for India.

For now I have two takeaways to share with you:

Firstly this series has shown that a calm, collected and deliberate aggression can replace an overly animated and abrasive one

And

It is also a reminder to not to let the occassional lows(however low they might be) prevent you from reaching the heights you are capable of. Dump all your past fears and conditioning and be willing to roll the dice and lose - thats the mindset of the winner- allow yourself the failures and move onto to whatever is next and that is what is exemplified by this Indian Team.

#cricket #indiaaustralia , #gabba #lessons #leadership