This may sound cliched but cliches are often true and worth repeating. So, here are some management "lessons" from India's great win at Brisbane.
It is said that India won the Brisbane test despite the absence of many stalwarts- Kohli, Shami, Jadeja, Ashwin, Bumrah, Yadav, Rahul. A badly depleted side managed to pull off a fantastic victory. It's worth asking: was it despite their absence or because of it?
Stars don't have to go all out. They don't have that much to lose if they don't play well. Not so with debutants or novices such as Siraj, Natarajan, Sundar. They have to go all out, make the most of an opportunity. They have so much at stake.
Stars don't easily make good team players- and this is not with reference to our senior cricketers, it's a general statement. And yet performance is more about team performance than about stars.Team performance is more than the aggregation of solo effort- cooperation, collaboration, mutual support, give and take, all these matter.
Above all, nobody is indispensable. It may appear that, sans the stars, an organisation will be nowhere. However, there is always talent that can be found and the collective team effort can compensate for lack of individual greatness. Indeed, the test of an organisation is whether it can perform once a star or stars have departed.
In light of the above, I see merit in the suggestion, gathering steam, that Ajinkya Rahane should be retained as captain for tests:
Rahane collected the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, held it aloft, called his team-mates, handed over the trophy to T Natarajan and left the scene. On ABC Grandstand radio commentary, legendary former Australia captain Ian Chappell was impressed.
“That’s Rahane for you. When the BCCI will hang a picture of this at its office, the captain will be missing from the group photo. His team mates love him and respect him. They are playing for him,” Chappell said.
The team leader does not have to be the best player in the team. He has to be a competent player who can get the best out of his team- by motivating them, by involving them in decision-making, maintaining good relationships. Rahane appears to meet these requirements in ample measure. Besides, Kohli may be able to focus more on his batting, as Vaughan points out.
It's interesting that while many people warm to the idea, they seem to think the selectors will find it difficult to put it to it Kohli, given that he's a superstar. There, you have the familiar Board of directors syndrome- the board not wanting to annoy a star CEO. Let the selectors make bold to try. They must know that the principles of managing for the long run are behind them.
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