Learning through cricket

Team building

Yesterday, I went and played cricket. While it was a great way to boost my emotional skills and even cricketing skills, I realised when you are in a team, how important it is to contribute for value. Value through runs, value through bowling, and value through fielding. Even there I was able to have more depth to the conversations I had. I kept quite more than I spoke. In order to win a cricket game, firstly, you need to be really skilful at what you do, and secondly, you should also have great people skills. In the sense, that you only play a cricket game through good people skills. There needs to be more and more depth to it. If you think about it, Virat Kohli is what he is because of 2 reasons, one is obviously the skill that he possesses but also the aura that he carries along with it. It's easy to formulate certain techniques that this is how you should be able to get success. I mean technicality is extremely important. But amidst the technicality you also need to be a great team player. You can win a world cup only when the team does well. That success of the team will be eventually distributed towards everyone in the team.

Roles: 

One very important thing about a great team is the roles that people contribute. For an example, you can give a role to Jadeja like you can score 30 runs and 3 wickets in every game, there won't be a better all-rounder than him. Now that's a quite simple goal to have for every game. You don't really think too far ahead but only for the match. I also understand that one needs to train for that. One needs to practice as much as possible for the same. So have specific roles to each and every player in the team. You can have match winners during times of distress, but overall if the roles are defined, you can win the game. Moreover, the roles are also flexible according to the situation. For an example, if the situation is such that one has to accelerate during the game, they can do that. If the situation is such that you have to hold on to the wickets, you adapt accordingly. The point is that one needs to read the situation of the team and make a move accordingly. 

Philosophy: 

Every captain that came in India, came in with his philosophy. For an example, Mahi would keep on saying that process is more important than the results. If the process is right, the results will follow. Kohli kept establishing the fitness culture and how important it was for India to have fit people. Whereas Rohit had a philosophy of experimentation. So, when a captain believes in something, the whole team will believe in it. If not today, eventually. Personally, Mahi resonates the best with me and that's why I also keep the same philosophy that if the process is right, the results will eventually follow. Moreover, my philosophy is also the fact that you should be doing hard things again and again. If you have to stay at the wicket or at the writing desk for one hour, you stay there for one hour. You don't get up and do other things. Because you are writing you are just writing. It's easy to get distracted but when you hold on to the first 15 minutes well, you will start enjoying that process and eventually you will hold on to the game for the next 1 hr easily. So, what is important for me personally is to stick to the writing table for the first 15 minutes even when it's difficult. 

The point of it all is that one needs to have a philosophy around the team. If you think that the process is more important than the results, naturally the fear of the outcome and the pressure of the outcome will just go away. 

Vibe: 

Like every team, it's important to have a good vibe in the dressing room. For an example, Rohit Sharma had a very relaxed vibe around the team. Whereas for Virat Kohli, the vibe was not very relaxed because Kohli himself is a passionate guy who can take it to a different level for the team. Dhoni had a relaxed vibe because he didn't care about the result. Even if a game did not go his way, he would come and do the same thing again. Thus, giving some sort of stability for the team that nothing has changed.

Perspectives: 

Every team has a perspective. That is the captain's perspective. For example, Dhoni's perspective after a game was nothing should change. The process remains the same. The dressing room remains the same. The result might go here and there, but a major part of the process remained the same. That's why he was able to achieve so many things. I personally believe in the same. One needs to have a structure around this. I remember that Dhoni also reduced the number of things that he did at a particular point because he was a TC, and he was also trying to work hard on his game. He had to quit being a TC and had to focus completely on improving his game. All of that helped him making better decisions. For him, it was all about focus and making sure that the process remains the same. Virat Kohli was always about let's take a look at the positives for every game. Rohit Sharma on the other side was more authentic in my eyes. He would show case his emotions and one fine day he would be like our way of playing needs to change. Now Rohit is also equally successful as a captain. Rohit would be a master in strategy. If he thinks that we need to play a certain way, he will be the first one who would lead from the front and show the way. That's what we want in most of the captains. Dhoni was laid back and knew that if he does not think of the results he would come. One can argue that Rohit is a more successful captain by the trophies, but I think Dhoni is a more consistent successful captain. 

I was hearing some players interview where he said that Rohit will give a tactical advice whereas Virat will give some motivational and encouraging words to the players. So Virat is a great leader but not as great a tactician as Rohit is. The point is that it's the perspective that matters a lot when it comes to being a successful captain. 

Think long term: 

My perspective towards getting better at anything is that you should look at it long term. You don't want to be a student who completes everything in one day. In fact, there won't be any sort of noticeable progress in that. However, when you think of what you should know in the next 5 years, I am sure that things will change, and you will be able to think of the long-term factor. Sometimes there would be days when you are not super productive, and there would be days where you are more productive than normal. But the perspective of long term shifts all your short-term failures and short-term successes. If you want to get better at something don't think in 1 day method. Rather think for the longest possible term. Think for 5 years, think for 10 years or 1 year. Without that you will become demotivated or extra motivated towards something. I still want you to practice long-term thinking in everything that you do. There are passions and hobbies you like doing and that will help you in one way or the other, but make sure you are getting better at certain things daily.