There is a sense of
inevitability when the Aussies play cricket, especially the ODIs. You know the
result before even the match starts.
Much like a Tom Cruise
MI series movie where, as a viewer you know that the Mission is possible
despite all the twists and turns, the Aussies translate the impossible to
possible.
Very few teams, repeat
the word, teams have dominated any sport for as long as the Aussies have done
in cricket.
Is it because they produce
cricketers who routinely break all records?
The answer is an
emphatic NO.
Let us look at some
individual record holders in ODIs…
1)
Highest
score- Rohit Sharma, 264
2)
Highest
number of matches, runs, centuries – Sachin Tendulkar.
3)
Wickets,
overall – Muthiah Muralidharan (the top 5 are Asians!!!)
4)
Best
bowling analysis – Chaminda Vaas, 8 for 19.
5)
Fastest century
– AB De Villiers
6)
Fastest
Fifty – AB De Villiers
Not surprisingly, the
Aussies do not feature in this list, because Cricket is a team game, not an
individual sport.
When it comes to the
team performance, the gap between the Aussies and the rest is as huge as the
difference between Everest and Kilimanjaro.
Of the last five world
cups played, the Aussies have won four.
From October 2002,
when the first ODI rankings were started till now, Australia have been number 1
for 128 of the 144 months, an astounding 89% of the time. India at 13.5 months
and South Africa at 12.5 months filling up the balance.
For the Aussies, what does
not seem to matter is the composition of the team, the only thing that matters
is the colour of the dress. In an evolving jigsaw puzzle that lays more
emphasis on the team winning rather than individual glory, the Aussies never
turn out second best.
What makes this magic
happen is tough to understand and will remain an enigma for ages.
The other enigma is
India.
Blessed with an
abundance of talent, we should have won far far more.
After all, how many
teams can boast of greats like Sachin, Rahul, Sehwag, Kumble, Laxman, Ganguly,
all in the same era?
But, why is the trophy
cupboard bare?
It has to possibly do
with the Indian mindset.
We idolize, we worship
the achievers as Gods forgetting what their raison d’etre is..
The Congress party
ruled us for ages not because it was the Congress but because we voted for the
Nehru Gandhi family. We actually never bothered ourselves about what they did
for the country.
In Hockey, the only
name we know is Dhyan Chand, not the fact that India won the Olympic gold six
consecutive times between 1928 and 1956, an unparalleled feat.
In the new era, we
celebrate, felicitate Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai. Don’t think we
will ever bother about what their impact on their Organizations is.
A very ordinary Salman
Khan “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” makes more money than excellent movies like Baby,
Talvar or Maanjhi.
Our quest is to win
the spellbee or make it to the Limca Book of Records.
If a child grows up in
this milieu, he or she has only one goal - How do I make myself a successful individual?
Till this mindset
changes, we would possibly be only winning hearts, not matches. We will create
individual achievers but not winning teams.
