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Be yourself

People around you are all idiots, or most of them. They are easily influenced by others and form opinions and ‘facts’ based on what they hear.

It is important not to get trapped, but to be yourself and make your judgement.

Go for a win!!

There are some who work to be Winners. And then there are others who work not to become Losers.

World champions: In and out

Everybody is blaming the Indian cricket board and its set up for the catastrophic failure in England. Yes, they did lose the plot! But let us look at the last few years to identify how and where things went right or wrong for Team India and what is required to put the Indian cricket back on track.

Let us start from September 2007 when everything began to fall in place for the Indian team after their surprising but extremely morale boosting T20 World Cup win, which followed a rather embarrassing early exit from the 2007 World Cup. They got tactical skippers in Kumble and Dhoni, a hard working and intelligent planner in Kirsten, a bunch of seniors who in spite of individual reputations wanted to pin the missing but highly important badges on their chest, an enthusiastic bunch of talented youngsters who wanted to prove their point and a highly powerful and cash rich board to support them. A wonderful set up. Everyone’s goal was one - to see Indian cricket on top of the world - to become the world no. 1 team in Tests and the world champions in ODIs. They made a plan and started to work towards the goal.

Slowly, the core team looked complete. Gambhir started to settle in the opener’s role alongside Shewag, followed by the awesome threesome. Dhoni was solid behind the stumps with the efficient Zaheer and Kumble leading the bowling lineup that included Harbhajan and others. They played with determination and the motivation to succeed and started to get the desired results. They started to win the home series and square/ win the away series. Australia’s sudden demise also helped Team India achieve half its goal. They became the no. 1 test team in the world. Hunger was partially satisfied.

In preparation to the World Cup in 2011, India started infusing youngsters in the ODI squad. They identified a core group of players for ODI and made sure that with enough rotations and trying out options, the players are fresh and at their best for the world cup. This helped the players to perform well and help India win the ODI World Cup. With that their dream was fulfilled and they became the top Test team and the ODI champions. The checklist of the seniors was crossed out. Hunger was satiated and the nation celebrated.

It is from there everything began to unsettle. Kirsten moved out. The IPL didn’t give them enough time to relish the World Cup victory or to give the players a break that will rejuvenate them back into the champion mindset. In fact, it helped cause more injuries and mental fatigue. The IPL also left the youngsters with bloated egos and false reputation. The seniors too didn’t have anything more to achieve except for personal milestones.  Also, while Kirsten had to inspire and mentor the determined aspirants to the world crown, Fletcher was left with ‘World Champion’ players. He had enough time just to allow them be on their own. The team disintegrated.

To make it worse, they were against a team that has never been on top of the world cricket even though they are the birth place for cricket. The opposition, playing at home, was extremely motivated, focused, hungry to prove a point and were rearing to go against the tired Indians. While the English players played with passion, enthusiasm and eagerness to become the top test team, the Indians played individually without any commitment and lacked purpose. As expected, the Indians were completely thrown out of gear and relieved off the top test team tag.

Now is the best time to realize and re-align the goals and create a system and a team that will regain the no. 1 ranking and remain there for a long time. Fletcher has to take control of the team and plan the next set of action in bringing stability and build a core team for the present that will evolve better with time. The selectors should make proper judgement in deciding appropriate players for each of the formats and help them settle in their roles. The board has to play its part responsibly. Of course, for the IPL just like how each franchise will take 10 years to financially break even, it will take another 3-4 years for the IPL to create its own marquee stars and sustain without some/most of the Team India regulars. Till then we can just wait and hope the positive transformation happens soon.

A great start to the New Year

This New Year, I have decided to write one post every year. So I am very happy that I am able to fulfill this task right on the first day of the New Year. It gives me immense satisfaction and pride and the self confidence and belief that  I could actually achieve my target and goals. :P

Wish you all a very happy new year and looking forward to seeing you back in 2011!!!