On the back drop of the 2nd test match, Australian tour of India, 11-15 March 2001, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, where the epic partnership between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid at Kolkata was one of India’s greatest test wins against Australia, former cricketer VVS Laxman outlined the learnings he and his team had in that match and the subsequent series. And, these learnings, he felt had all the trappings of leadership quality, patience and individual talent that harnessed future games. Speaking at the 21st NHRDN National Conference: Star Session – Straight Drive on Leadership Nuggets, at Hyderabad recently; he shared his thoughts on how lessons learnt from playing cricket could well serve corporate talent management too
“When you are in a tough situation, patience is a very important ingredient which we have to exhibit. So, when you patiently absorb the pressure, you will suddenly come to a point where the opposition team is then feeling the pressure. And , that’s when you, as a batsman and a player can capitalize on that moment”
Reminiscing on the 2001 India Australia Test series, which heralded VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, as saviors not just for their epic 376 run stand but, changed the course and the winning fate of Indian Test cricket internationally.
“It was a good start but still, we required to score a lot of runs to come back into the game”, said VVS. On questioning people who watched the match, VVS would often get dual answers. While some would say, “We knew that you and Rahul Dravid will have a partnership and we knew that you will bounce back and win the test match.” Others, however, honestly said that they had expected India to have crashed out of the match by the end of 4th day afternoon. He shared that the learning from the match and the game of cricket was even greater.
“Personally, if you ask me when I went out to bat, in that situation, I was not thinking anything, I was not thinking about the situation we were in and I was not thinking that we were 274 runs behind. I was not thinking that we will bounce back and save or, win the test match. My focus, that day was about playing each ball on its merit and also playing each session at a time and hopefully bat as strong as possible…But, after the innings and after the test match, it was a great learning experience for all of us involved in that test match and after that whenever we were in a situation similar to that of the Kolkata Test match; we applied a formula which we learnt from that test match.”
VVS said that the formula when one is in a tough situation irrespective of the walks of life one belongs to and is facing a challenging situation, “The first and foremost formula is, you should not panic. Because when you panic, you stop thinking and when you stop thinking; you will not have any thoughts at all whether positive or negative, which is a separate story. You will not have any thoughts at all,” he said.
“The second thing is that you have to be realistic about the situation, if you are not then you will never ever accept the problem that you are facing and, if you don’t, then how do you devise a strategy? I think that accepting a problem, not only in cricket but in any walks of life, for every problem there is a solution. It’s important to be positive and devise a solution.”
“Cricket is a game where as a batsman, you are not playing alone, and you will have a partner. So once you have a solution, you will have to communicate that solution to your partner. Idea is to break that solution into smaller goals and then try to achieve those, which is always easy. At that particular moment you perceive that it is a very tough goal to achieve so break that big target into small goals. It is very easily achievable and following that you have to then absorb the pressure.”
Picking a point from the iconic game, he added,“ There was pressure on us because, you are facing the best bowlers in the world cricket at that time. Steve Waugh was attacking with his bowling options, was tackling and trying to get our wickets. Therefore, if you do not absorb the pressure, you can also very easily succumb to the pressure.”
“So, how do you absorb the pressure? “By showing a lot of patience, because when you are in a tough situation, patience is a very important ingredient which we have to exhibit. So, when you patiently absorb the pressure, you will suddenly come to a point where the opposition team is then feeling the pressure and that’s when you, as a batsman and a player can capitalize on that moment”, he adds.
He said, “Once when you start capitalizing, then it’s also very important not to be complacent because till you finish a goal, even though you have achieved your personal goals or personal milestones like I got my 100th run, Rahul got his 50th, finally to score my 281 and Rahul his180th. Our goal was to bat the entire 4th day and take India into a position of strength from where we can put pressure on the Australians and hopefully win the game. So, we were not supposed to be complacent even once, especially when you feel that the opposition team is now feeling the pressure. I think this is the formula which we learnt that day and this is something which we have practiced whenever the team was in a tough situation.”
“I was very fortunate that during my career, I was in similar positions and situations and I was able to help the team to either bounce back and win the matches from certain situations such as in the Adelaide and Mohali in 2010 and again in Durban in 2010. I think it gives a lot of satisfaction and the true test of the character of a person is exhibited whenever he or she faces such challenging situations.”
“Cricket is a game where as a batsman, you are not playing alone, and you will have a partner. So once you have a solution, you will have to communicate that solution to your partner. Idea is to break that solution into smaller goals and then try to achieve those which is always easy. At that particular moment, you perceive that it is a very tough goal or a target to achieve. So, break that big target into small goals. It is very easily achievable and following that you then have to absorb the pressure”
VVS Laxman said that in his long innings of 281 in that epic match, he was fortunate to have got somebody like Rahul Dravid. “But, every time you don’t get a Dravid. The partner is very important. Because, if you don’t have a partner, you are back in the dressing room and your innings is folded. How much ever you bat well, I think, the partner is very important and not only while batting. While cricket is an individual game, it is also a very interesting game. As a bowler, you have the ball in your hand and you try to get the wicket but the wicket is completed only when someone takes a catch! And, as a batsman, you have the bat in hand, but you can only be there at the wicket so long as your partner is there with you.”
“I was very fortunate in my career because when you are in a team game, you do not necessarily play the role that you always like to do or which you prefer to do. I always wanted to be a No. 3 batsman. Right from my childhood playing domestic cricket, I was always the No. 3 batsman. But, when you play for India, there is so much of competition and there are so many capable great players and you know you only have six batsmen in the playing 11. I was asked to open early on in my career and I batted at No. 3, then at No. 5 also at No. 6 and sometimes No. 7. When you are batting at No. 3 or if you are opening, you usually bat with the best players in the team. So, I was very fortunate and privileged to play with probably the best players that world cricket has seen. They are all legends and exceptionally talented players – Virendra Sehwag to Gautam Gambhir; Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh – you name it all.”
VVS spelt the many challenges and the team dynamics and individual characters that shape the team. “There is a challenge when you are batting, especially when you have partners who were exceptionally talented players. For instance, Virendra Sehwag’s approach is totally opposite to the way I approach my batting. For Sehwag if the first ball is outside the off-stump – it will go for a six, over the point. However, the first ball which is outside the off stump, will be a ball which I will leave.”
“The important thing is that you cannot be carried away by what your partner is doing. Because, you have to understand, what your strengths are. So, while you are playing for the team and while the common goal for all of us is to score runs for the entire team’s benefit, we also have our own individual styles of having a game plan, preparing for a match or approaches on how one can play against each and every bowler. So, it is very important to understand your strengths and (fall) back on everyone’s strengths.”
“The good thing about all the legends mentioned is that they never ever interfered with the other man’s game plan. Rahul Dravid and I had a 300 plus partnership at Eden Gardens (2001); my partnership with Sachin at Sydney in 2001 and again in 2004, was a 300 runs partnership. But, in these partnerships never ever will Rahul come and tell me not to play a particular shot or I will tell Rahul not to do so or play a bowler in a certain manner.”
“All we do is come in between the overs and punch our gloves and go back and follow our own method of scoring runs and the only one thing which we remind each other is on the situation the team is in and that it is our responsibility to do our best for our team.”
“If suppose, someone is getting distracted which happens, because in cricket, there is a lot of distraction and also there is pressure put by the opposition, which includes the bowlers and the fielders. Besides, when you score a beautiful boundary, you are very pleased with that shot and then you can get distracted and in the bargain, you may lose focus and your concentration and it is the partner’s responsibility to come and tell you to hang on, you are batting well and not get distracted because they have to do something special for their team. That’s very important because when you are out there, you are two batsmen against 11 fielders. But, never ever interfere in the way the other batsman approaches and never ever sort of discourage them playing their natural game.”
“The other challenge I had was playing at No. 6”, said VVS. “That’s something which I am very very proud of, as in the first instance, you are batting with very established and talented batsmen and also think that batting at No. 6 never came natural to me because I was not like a ‘Dhoni’ or ‘Yuvraj’ who could easily hit sixes at will.”
“I was more a touch player and would always look for boundaries and looking to play the shots along the ground. So, at No. 6, you are with a set batsman when you go out to bat and then comes the wicket keeper who would bat at No. 7 and you have the bowlers who come at positions 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Therefore, for me the challenge initially was that although, I am batting well and what if the bowlers (in lower batting orders) don’t do well, then I am stranded. And which happened to me a lot of time in my career when I am stranded at 30 runs or 40 runs. I am batting well but, I lose my partners. So, how do you encourage your partner here whose primary skill set is bowling, and his secondary skill set is batting?
“Any player will focus a lot on his primary skill set. For me, my primary skill set is batting and not bowling. So, when I am partnering with a bowler, I try to empower the bowler with whom I play, and I was also very fortunate to play with the bowlers who also took a lot of pride in their batting.”
On harnessing an individual’s primary or secondary skill set, VVS also speaks on empowering team mates in their ‘not-so’ natural skills. He said, “So how do you empower? First and foremost, you try to help them to become a better batsman and how does it happen? Not only through words but also through actions.”
“I used to go and probably take them through extra throw downs, practice sessions, ask the coach to give them extra batting during practice sessions so that they began to become better at their secondary skill set. Now, you do all this in preparation and convince them that they are good batsman and that they are equally talented as a batsman to score runs. But, now they lay in the middle line orders and it’s only when you give them strike and then they can you show that you do believe in their abilities. That’s something which I learnt and was very fortunate with the bowlers with whom I played with and they were fiercely competitive. Because, as a bowler, your technique may not be as good as that of a batsman but, if you don’t have a brave heart then you will not survive.”
“Therefore, I think that communication with the bowlers is something which I am proud of”, he said. VVS gave an example of their Perth match. “ Perth is supposed to be the fastest wicket in cricket world and I remember in the 2007-08 series, we had just lost the Sydney test match and were in a comfortable position in Perth and in the 1st innings Australia bounced back. In the 2nd innings we had to get another 100 runs but suddenly, we had a mini collapse. I was joined by R P Singh, the fast bowler. We were still not in a comfortable position from where we could dictate terms or assure ourselves of a win! However, that partnership that I had with RP is something I am very proud of because Australia had Bret Lee, Stuart Clark and one of their quickest bowlers, Shaun Tait. They also had Michael Clark and Andrew Symonds.”
“Communication is very important when batting and so I asked R P Singh on the bowlers, he was not comfortable with. RP Singh replied that he was comfortable with all including Shaun but, not Bret Lee. That’s where I took the majority of the strike when Bret Lee was bowling and whenever other bowlers bowled, we took singles. RP went on to score 31 runs in that partnership and I scored 30 runs and put up a 70 runs partnership. Well, there were some extras too. That 70 odd run partnership helped us to take a substantial lead and we went on to win that match!”
“In decision making, the first and foremost objective is to know and understand the leadership. “Understand who the leader of the ship is. Invariably, in a critical situation, it is the captain’s decisions on field that are more important than what happens outside the field. The responsibility of the coach is to create a good atmosphere in the dressing room where everyone is relaxed and is preparing as to when to take up a challenge in the course as put forth by the opposition team’’
VVS brought out the nuances of style and strategy of individual team members viz managers and how they could be integrated to maximize outcomes.
He said that in the corporate world, so also in the cricketing world, the coach, the team captain and the players; each of them has their own distinct or respective targets and styles and integrating these become the key to the common outcome.
“I think the leadership is extremely important. In cricket, the leadership or the management of the team usually rests with the coach and the captain, but good teams are the ones who don’t necessarily rely on the coach and the captains. Good captains or good coaches are the ones who create a code rule. So, while the captain might be the designated person who goes out and does the toss, he is also responsible and accountable as the designated captain to have the final say as far as decisions are concerned. However, a good captain or a good team has a core group of leaders that indirectly inspire the other players in the team and this is the key. So, the players, the captain and the coach everyone should be in sync.”
“Every coach or a captain may have a different style, but their style should not be conflicting to each other. We have seen in the past that if the coach and the captain are conflicting in the way they want to approach or the way they want to build the character of the team, it indirectly affects the team members and that team always suffers. There is no security in the team, there is a discord between the communication from the top management to the bottom rung because the top management involving the coach and the captain are speaking different language.”
He said that the first and foremost objective is to know and understand the leadership. “Understand who the leader of the ship is. Invariably, in a critical situation, it is the captain’s decisions on field that are more important than what happens outside the field. The responsibility of the coach is to create a good atmosphere in the dressing room where everyone is relaxed and are playing with a lot of freedom, where everyone is preparing as to when to take up a challenge in the course as put forth by the opposition team.’
“As far as strategy is concerned or game plan is concerned, the accountability will be with the captain and it is very important. But, above all there is something which I really admired when Sourav Ganguly and John Wright were the captain and the coach. The first time that John took over as the first foreign coach of the Indian team, we had a wonderful camp, probably the best camp I ever attended in 2001 before the 2003-04 tour to Australia. John joined us in 2000 when we played against Zimbabwe in November 2000. In the first two matches, he was just observing each and every player in the team and then after that series for three months he went around the country. He watched all the domestic cricket, understood how Indian cricket functions, who are the good players in the system etc.
Following which we had a camp before the Australia series in 2001 in Feb before the memorable Australia series. “And for the first time, the coach and the captain (before it always used to be dictatorial style as to what we are going to do with the players), along with 13 probable players who were identified and for two days, the team did not even go out of the hotel but sat in the board room of the hotel discussing what we wanted to do as an Indian team and that’s something which is very important. That was the goal setting exercise we had and the goal setting was done not by the captain and the coach alone but by each and every player in the team who were involved in the goal setting.”
VVS views that the outcome is positive when an entire team is involved in goal setting. “When only the captain and the coach sets the goals and conveys to the players, it is often the targets and goals of the captains and the coaches and the same need not be that of the players. Whereas, if everyone is open and contributes in the goal setting then it’s the goals set by the players and they take accountability of each and every goals they set. Once they themselves set the goals, it is mandatory for them to go out and work to achieve that goal. Because, it was their decision and their goals it became the turning point in the way the Indian team performed during the year 2000 and beyond and the following decade.”
VVS reiterated that an important aspect lies in building character so as to identify or define the character of the team. He said, “Every team will have a different character, a Pakistani team will have a different character compared to an Indian team; whilst an Australian team will have a different character to that of an English Team.”
He said that cultural nuances too play a significant role adding certain diversity to players and their team’s character. “It is very important to identify what comes naturally so you can’t say Indians cannot be like Australians or they can’t be like the Indian team as they are of certain psyche, the mindset and the emotional feelings of the players will be totally different, especially when you compare the different cultures of the different countries. I think it is very important to understand the mindset and psyche of the players and then you can define the characters of the team.”
VVS also put forth the mantra for a collective need towards achieving any goal. He said, “You also want to know what you want to achieve as a team? So, in 2001 (pre-Australia Series), as part of that meeting, what we wanted to achieve was to become the No. 1 test playing nation in the world. We had played well in the year but we wanted to beat the best not only in India but wanted do the same overseas in their challenging conditions, we had to play out of our comfort zone.”
He then speaks on having an ideal level playing field for the team’s need to achieve the ultimate common goal. “It’s important that there is no hierarchy and each and every member of the team, right from the coach including the junior-most member of the team is speaking the same language. And that everyone defines the character of the team and each one takes responsibility of setting the goals and achieving these goals. Involving the team in its purpose creates character of the team!”
By Neeraj Varty & Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar
