Strategic Leadership

For those who don't follow cricket , this piece may not strike a chord immediately but I thought of sharing it all the same. It remains one of my favorite real life case studies on strategic/tactical leadership.

I have heard people use the words 'strategy','leadership','strategic leadership' and even a line that goes something like this - " Culture eats strategy for breakfast' (or is it the other way round) , all of which sound very impressive but do not convey anything that can be put to immediate use. As a professional, I am always looking for something intensely practical that I can apply to my day to day life.

Cricket is still the predominant game on the Indian sub continent and back in 1979-80 when I was a school boy it was perhaps the only game any Indian managed to relate to. 1979-80 was an interesting season. India had beaten Australia 2-0 at home and were now hosting Pakistan. Even as the visitors landed in India, Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian captain went on record saying ,"Pakistan will smash us to pulp". It was a stunning statement to make on the eve of a 6 Test series but he made it.

I can still see the cover page of 'The Illustrated Weekly of India' neatly divided vertically in to two halves- the first half featured a smiling Runa Laila, the famous singer from Bangladesh. The other half featured a grinning Asif Iqbal,Pakistan's captain, driving elegantly through the off side , his St Peter's bat angled stylishly. Gavaskar's startling statement was printed on that cover page for the world to see - " \Pakistan will smash us to pulp". I can assure you that every schoolboy in India believed him at the time. I did anyway.

The magazine ran an elaborate pictorial story on the Pakistani team members , explaining how they had honed their skills playing in the English County Championship as well as in Packer's World Series Cricket(WSC) in Australia,emphasizing that they were basically a more refined and talented group of cricketers overall. The press in India simply went ga-ga over them. 'Sportsweek' , a popular sports magazine of the time named the side 'Asif's Super 16'. The likes of Majid Khan did appear very impressive indeed.'Majestic Majid' is what they named him and he was indeed in a class of his own.

It was against this backdrop that the series got under way ,with the visitors continuing to attract all the limelight.They received rave reviews and were photographed at parties with Bollywood celebrities. Some wore T-shirts that had 'Big boys play at night' printed on them, a reference to them having played cricket under Packer's floodlights. Gavaskar's boys were made to appear apologetic and insignificant bystanders in comparison...well....almost.It was simply amazing to see.

However,by the time 3 of the first 6 Tests had been played, India were unexpectedly leading 1-0 and by the time the two teams went to Kolkata to play the last of the 6 Tests,the home team had in fact taken an unbeatable 2-0 lead.

Gavaskar who had made that famous statement at the start of the series had now stepped down as captain after leading India to that 2-0 series triumph. He may well have added at the time ," Real big boys don't play at night....they play during the day." As it turned out, he said nothing and allowed the final result to speak for itself. In truth, the series had been decided even before a ball had been bowled by that one disarming statement of his.

So what went wrong for 'Asif's Super 16'? Looking back at the events of the time, it was a mixture of many things. Zaheer Abbas, who had mauled India's famed spin trio in Pakistan a year earlier lost form completely,so much so that he was actually dropped for the last Test.Big guns Majid Khan and Asif Iqbal managed only a couple of half centuries each. Imran Khan, the principal threat to the Indian batsmen was injured mid way through the series but was at his fastest and best in Chennai where Pakistan were soundly beaten. He was again firing on all cylinders in the tightly contested last Test which ended in a tense draw. However, he had a poor series with the bat as indeed did Bari , the wicket keeper who hardly made a run. It was an anti-climax like no other.

Who blew them away ? Kapil Dev,of course, ably supported by Karsan Ghavri, Roger Binny and Dilip Doshi. However, it was that piece of shrewd strategic/tactical leadership from Gavaskar at the start of the series that triggered everything.

I believe (and I could be wrong) that the Indian captain may well have actually led the opposition in to half believing that they had come to India for one big joy ride ....and not altogether without good reason.

In terms of balance, the famed Indian spin trio had faded away, India did not have a genuinely quick bowler, their fielding was acceptable without being great and none of the Indians had played for Packer's World Series Cricket. Pakistan had reached the semi -finals of the first two World Cups and India had not. India appeared to have only two experienced Test class batsmen, namely Gavaskar and Vishwanath.

To add to all of this , genuine long term Indian gains of the previous 6 months ,namely the emergence of Dilip Vengsarkar as a batsman of true international class and more importantly, the coming of age of Kapil Dev as an all rounder were downplayed. India's fielding and over all cricket had improved significantly during that period but it seldom received a notable mention.

The net effect was that while India quietly organized themselves expecting the worst,the visitors basked under the adoring attention of cricket lovers as well as the media, grossly underestimated the home side and grew complacent.

Thus it was that Majid Khan was bowled in the second Test by Kapil Dev - I can still see him trudging back , removing his batting gloves in disgust. Zaheer Abbas had his stumps knocked over by Roger Binny in Mumbai when India notched up the first of two Test victories. These were defining moments and still Gavaskar maintained a low profile. The umpiring was blamed by the visitors for the first loss (and admittedly it wasn't great) but when India won the fifth Test by 10 wickets, Asif Iqbal acknowledged that they had been beaten fair and square and that Kapil Dev had been the difference between the two sides. Gavaskar meanwhile continued to keep a low profile....and if memory serves me right ,he has never gone over the hill about that 2-0 triumph.

The only Pakistani batsman who dominated the Indian bowling was Wasim Raja, with Javed Miandad coming a close second. Sikander Bakht was Pakistan's sole bowling gain from that tour.That apart, it was all India.Months after the visitors had returned,everyone was still wondering," Did all of that really happen or was it a dream?" Well,it did happen....there are photographs ,score cards and match reports that describe that series in vivid detail.

I am not sure whether Gavaskar actually expected to lose badly and hence prepared Indian cricket lovers well in advance for a whitewash with that statement. What I do know and what I do remember very vividly is that India started the series as rank under dogs, competed hard in every Test and played very good cricket that season. Quite simply put, they exuded a " We can't be beaten." feel all through that series.It was good to see and great to remember even after all these years.So there you are - call it strategic /tactical leadership or strategy or plain smart thinking - it worked.

What's the takeaway then ? When you are up against someone who is fancied to tear you apart, then say so openly yourself, downplay your strengths, work wholeheartedly with what you do have, maintain a low profile ,let your work do all the talking, pray Lady Luck does the rest and then, in your hour of greatest triumph.....move on.

There were several great moments in Indian cricket since that series, such as the 1983 World Cup triumph but for sheer tactical brilliance and smart strategic leadership ,that 2-0 series triumph in 1979-80 still stands out.

I would like to add in passing that for a nation that would go on to interpret Saurav Ganguly's tactic of keeping Steve Waugh waiting for the toss during the 2001 home series (which India also famously and unexpectedly won) as a strategic master stroke, this particular series win of 1979-80 has not received the critical acclaim it deserves, which is surprising.

In truth, India were astutely led from the front by the redoubtable Gavaskar who, in addition to letting his 'Duncan Fearnley' bat do all the talking, ensured that talented youngsters such as Roger Binny and Sandeep Patil received timely initiation in to international cricket. Gavaskar also persevered with the promising Yashpal Sharma and brought the best out of Dilip Vengsarkar,Syed Kirmani and Kapil Dev.In retrospect,it must be said that he additionally demonstrated vision because all 6 players mentioned earlier (besides himself) went on to feature in the historic 1983 maiden World Cup triumph in England.

As a strategist and leader, Gavaskar was superb that season,ensuring that when the opposition started to flounder mid way through the series,allowing the home team to go in to a state of ascendancy, it stayed that way irreversibly to the very end.

It was indeed a very long time ago and we were only school boys at the time but the learning has endured.

#leadership #strategy