Thank you Shane Warne

Much has been written about Shane Warne's captaincy in the IPL. There has been an earlier post from me on this.

What stood out was Shane Warne remembering every single of his players name in full and pronouncing it correctly ( A big achievement for an Australian - Try saying Swapnil Asgondkar and you will know what I am telling ). At every post match press conference, he was profuse in his praise of Swapnil, Ravindra Jadeja, Sidharth Trivedi, Neeraj Patel , Yousuf Pathan and so on depending on who performed well that day. He made his bunch of young non entities feel good, recognised their efforts and gave them confidence. They in turn gave their life to him. He also clearly defined roles for each player and led from the front. My enduring memory of the IPL was Shane Warne ensuring he is within the return crease at the non strikers end when the last ball was bowled and then taking off like a rocket to run the single that his team needed to win the moment the ball left the bowlers hand. Professional to the end. When Yousuf Pathan got out, Warne took the responsibility of seeing his team through in the tightest possible situation. Is there any wonder then that his team Rajastan Royals won IPL. There is a management lesson in all these. You dont need high fliers to attain your objectives (the ridiculous experiment of having icons who were paid 15% more than the highest paid player was a well deserved disaster), all you need is a team of performers who are willing to play out of their skins. Whenever Rajastan Royals were in trouble, one of the youngsters put up his hand and took the responsibility of seeing the team through. There was synergy. The adage that sum of the parts is always greater than one holds good in Rajastan Royals Case.

Contrast this with Yuvraj Singh and even MS Dhoni. At the toss, they were not even able to remember the name of the players who have been omitted or selected. It was so embarrassing. What kind of a message were they sending? True MSD did not point fingers after he lost, but said the team as a whole could have performed. But then he could have at least picked someone from the team who did well during the tournament and mentioned it at the prize distribution ceremony.

Back to Shane Warne. Forget his follies and his scandals. Just remember him for being a great cricketer who gave his everything on the cricket field and off it too. He also dispelled the myth that you need fancy computer analyst, high profile coaches and grand strategies to win on the cricket field. He had always scoffed at John Buchananan and his coaching methods. When he got a chance, Warne walked the talk and proved a point or two to the world. He showed to us that cricket is not about personalities, but utilizing the skills available at your disposal to the hilt with passion and determination. Thank you Shane Warne for keeping things simple and untangling the complexities surrounding cricket teams. It is after all a simple game that has to be played for joy. We salute you as a great player and a still greater leader. What a pity you never became Australian captain! Aussies loss is Rajasthans gain