Pure Genius

The guy continues to amaze me. I am talking about Shane Warne. He managed a ragtag team of non entities last year to the IPL trophy. This year, he is severely handicapped by the absence of Shane Watson, Sohail Tanveer and last heroes like Asnodkar have not fired. The team looks on paper the weakest (including KKR, I have to say). But Rajastan Royals led by Warne are on the verge of Semi Final berth.

Yesterday was a case in point of what a leader should be. Warne picked up a severe hamstring injury in the previous match and was ruled out of the whole IPL. But hey presto! There he was. Thigh tightly strapped, not wanting to lose the one chance to take on his nemesis - Sachin Tendulkar. RR was 15 runs short after their innings, but you can never discount Warne. He weaved his magic, interspersed with some rank long hopes, got rid of Sachin and Jayasuria. Also, he pulled a dramatic victory from a hopeless position when Mumbai Indians had to score just 6 in 9 balls with 3 wickets in hand. He tossed the ball to Munaf Patel, bought the field in and won with 2 runs to spare. He was also cool as a cucumber diving to save the Malinga drive and cooly tossing it to Munaf to effect the last run out. That he was able to ensure Munaf was behind the stumps to collect the ball itself speaks highly of his captaincy, for Munaf must rank amongst the most hopeless fielder in the world, barring none, who just thinks that his responsibility ends with bowling the ball alone. The ball Warne bowled to get Sachin LBW was a gem.

The guy should have been born an Indian. He plays with his heart and is so passionate that his tarzan style cry on winning the match, with him on his knees, arms raised was a joy to behold. Ajay Jadeja, on being queried by Sonali on NDTV mentioned that Warne may not have succeeded as Australian Captain, for Aussies play with logic but Warne plays with his heart may have been wrong. I still feel that it was Australias and World Crickets misfortune not to have seen Warne Captain a Test Team. Genius have a way of adapting to the siuation.

Management students can take a leaf out of Warne while studying leadership. He is a non conformist to the core. But he motivates, backs his youngsters, spots talent and leads from the front. Who said a leader has to wear Harrods suit, pin striped tie, sit in an ivory tower?