Victory and loss

Mere criticism of India’s loss in the ODI World Cup final or eulogising the team in spite of its insipid performance are both two ends of extreme reaction. Rather it may be useful to imbibe some learning, applicable to not only cricket or any other sporting outfit, but to every team in general. My take on this is:

(1) Like the game of cricket, the market place too is fraught with glorious uncertainties and each team has to remain prepared for any eventuality any moment, which in our parlance these days is fashionably called “disruption”. A rejuvenated Australian team with a better crafted strategy caused disruption.

(2) No strategy is a foolproof key to success and may require occasional or frequent tweaking. India thought that batting first and putting up a total on the scoreboard was foolproof, given the strength of their bowlers. 

(3) Best team members are more dependable, but team cannot rest on the laurels of only chosen few. All cylinders must fire. Kohli and Rahul found difficult to score quickly and the bowling triumvirate fizzled out after the initial burst. 

(4) Law of averages, definite end to a winning streak etc are excuses to justify an outcome on the hindsight. Australia, in the past, recorded a longer unbroken winning streak and all records are meant to be broken.

(5) Like sports, marketplace also is a playing turf, where victory and loss are the two sides of the same coin. The outcome, whatever it be, should be taken in stride without any sharp, knee jerk and lasting reaction. 

Let’s move on folks. There are laurels to be won by other teams – soccer, athletics, tennis, badminton, chess et al – T 20 team is already on the winning ways! 

And this is the message to all the teams! Learn from the past, strategise again and move on! Victory is there to be grabbed!