Management Musings

As the aftermath of the ball tampering saga  continues, today marked the day that the lead protagonists of the episode, Steve Smith, Cameron Bancroft and David Warner, all made public statements for the first time after the day it all began. Over the course of the past few days, the outrage from Australia has been vocal and sustained, by all accounts. I can't imagine the Prime Minster of India taking upon himself to make a public statement over a ball tampering/ cheating incident on a cricket field! The Prime Minister of Australia, however, did. He was among the first to react and even used his office status to push Cricket Australia into action, not that they needed any pushing, of course. I made a reference to the Aussie way of cricket in my previous blog post and had highlighted the blurring of "the line", wherever it may exist, for them. Soon after, the ball tampering scene exploded and while I have no sympathy for either Smith, Bancroft or Warner, the reactions do...

Those following the South Africa v/s Australia test series , would have heard about the now infamous incident involving Quinton de Kock and David Warner. De Kock is alleged to have said something unmentionable about Warner's wife to him, which resulted in the latter's angry reaction and having to be physically separated from the former. The Australian players have been remarkably direct in their support for David Warner's reaction to the slur. In their view, De Kock crossed "the line" when getting personal and bringing family into sledging. The South African cricket team coach, Otis Gibson, was almost poetic in his response . Sharada Ugra commented on the Aussie way with sledging and  I could not agree more with her. From the time that I can remember, the most famous sledges, on-field "banter", flare-ups, etc. have involved Australian players. Michael Slater having a go at Rahul Dravid in a test match in India, Stephen Waugh's sledges to Ambrose ...

Nowadays, I see Virat Kohli being idolized in the way that Sachin, Rahul and MS Dhoni were not so long ago. The difference in the personalities between Virat and Rahul or Virat and MS, could not be more stark. It is also quite telling that Virat is liked by all the kids. He has a certain bravado about him, the way that he talks, his body language - he knows that he is being watched and he plays his part perfectly. The nod of his head, the swagger, the carefully cultivated beard - all of these are vintage Kohli and are a part of the package of the Indian Test Cricket Captain. I was an ardent fan of Rahul Dravid. Or as I like to look at it, I was an ardent admirer  of Rahul. There was something about the way that he seemed to struggle and work hard at his batsmanship that would strike a chord with me. He would take enormous pride in his catching ability and in his fitness - virtues that would fill me with a strange sense of fulfillment that said, "Yes! I can understand that. I am...

I had been to an Indian Premier League cricket match recently and came away fascinated by the experience. Being a cricket aficionado, I have been to cricket grounds to watch Test matches in the past. I love the ebb and flow of the game in a Test match and watching it with similar cricket fans makes for a wholesome experience. The M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore is not the worst in terms of accessibility and basic facilities. It makes for a good viewing experience. The IPL matches, on the other hand, are a whole different ball game. The crowd coming in to watch these matches is completely different - there are families, teenagers and youngsters in large numbers, all turning up to enjoy the spectacle. There is music, loud. Really, really loud. The huge speakers placed maybe about a 100 feet away from each other are facing the audience. God forbid your seats turn out to be bang in front of any of those! The music starts blaring every time there is a break in the play. Oh! the defin...

Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from Test cricket, post drawing a match against Australia at the MCG yesterday. The timing and the method of retirement were extraordinary. It caught the media contingent and everyone completely unawares. He was in a post match press conference less than an hour before the press release announcing his retirement. The press conference was as normal as it could be, not a hint of the impending announcement. Now, if ever there was a case of keeping one's emotions in check, then this was it. Brilliant! He retires as the Captain of the Indian cricket team and statistically, the most successful man to have done the job. Under his supervision, India won approx. 40% of the test matches they played. A lot has been written about his home v/s away records. Regardless of all of that, the way he carried himself on and off the field defines his legacy. He has been one of a kind simply because of his intensely private lifestyle. It always seemed that he would be pla...

I simply had to write about the shocking and saddening news of Phil Hughes' demise after being hit by a cricket ball while playing the game. It feels like a travesty to call it that - "playing a game". One can not die while playing - can they? Not cricket, surely?! I do know there have been instances in the past, Raman Lamba, for example, famously died when hit in the head while fielding at forward short leg. That was a freak accident and somehow seems more comprehensible than to die after being hit while wearing a helmet and protective gear while batting. I do not know Phil Hughes. I did not follow his career closely. My impression of his cricketing ability was that he was one of many openers that the Australian cricket team had been trying in the past couple of years, looking for the right combination. Now, I do know a little more about him. I know that he was from the country side in Australia, a capital fellow, by all accounts. It does not matter. Whatever the natu...

In my childhood days, our sport of choice in the evenings would be a reflection of the current international sporting event. If India were playing cricket in a test series or a one-day international series, then we would become the latest sensation of the time while batting, bowling or fielding. If badminton was the flavor of the day via the Asia Cup or the Thomas and Uber Cup, we would shift seamlessly to playing badminton. During times of the Euro Cup or the FIFA World Cup, it would be time for some football action on the streets around the house. Fast forward to XX years later, and my blog posts reflect the current craze on sports and news channels across the world! Le Jogo Bonito is being watched by more than half the population of the world. The FIFA has more members than the United Nations, for God's sake! Put that in perspective - if FIFA so wishes, it could formulate or play a part in brokering peace between nations more effectively than the UN. Imagine that! There hav...

Sebastian Vettel is on a roll. He is winning the Formula 1 Grand Prix like it is nobody's business. He reminds me of Michael Schumacher in the 2000s when he drove for Ferrari and won 13 races in a single season. Winning one Formula 1 GP is achievement enough for mere mortals, to win multiple races in one season, to win 3 championships in a row is what makes these people great. Not all races are won "easily". Not every time that success is tasted is the story the same. The end result, however, is the same. When on a roll, everything just seems to fall in place. The path is difficult, always unyielding and always challenging - it is the end result that people see and the past is forgotten while jubilating over and celebrating the success of the present. So what is it that people do to get on a roll? If Seb Vettel can do it, if the Australian cricket team under Steve Waugh that won 15 or 16 test matches on the trot could do it, can't it be replicated everywhere? Yes, ...

In the past couple of weeks, a huge controversy has broken out in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a popular cricket tournament organized by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). 3 players of the Rajasthan Royals, one of the 9 teams in the competition were arrested by the Delhi police for their alleged involvement with bookies and underperforming in their roles for the team during various cricket matches. Although the element of fixing is not new to cricket, having famously been admitted to by Hansie Cronje, the South African cricket team captain in the year 2000, the recent arrests and ongoing investigations by the police has lead to wide spread outrage amongst cricket followers and fans in India and elsewhere. The evidence against the three players was telephone conversations and the footage from the games in which they underperformed. While the fallout of the investigations continue, the captain of the affected team, Rahul Dravid, called the effect of having the playe...

Gary Kirsten, the current South African cricket team coach, former Indian cricket team coach and former cricket player for South Africa has got to be an inspiration for wannabe coaches and leaders across industries. It is surprising that a person that has had as much impact as he has on the fortunes of cricket teams that he has coached, is given as little credit for their success as he has been. As a player, he was quite boring to watch although very effective. He probably scored as many runs off the edge of his bat, between the slips and the thirdman region or even off the inside edge to the fine leg region as he did in front of the wicket with genuinely timed shots. Of course, one can not take away the efficacy of his methods. He was super efficient and probably ended up with a career average of over 50 in test match cricket. He also, IIRC, scored an unbeaten 187 in a ODI against New Zealand during the 1996 World Cup in Pakistan. He was, as most left handers are, very successful ...