Semis : The day started with only six of us available to play the semis. In the last 3 years, after playing in lots of tourneys for Wyse, being through all the good and the bad, last thing I wanted was to give away the series with a ‘bye’ I desperately wanted to finish the illustrious innings here with a trophy! Leadership, team management, captaincy, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Alex Ferguson,Louis Vaan Gaal, it was a golden opportunity to experience what these were, so I decided to from a team and try managing and captaining it. Usually we are spoilt for choices and could easily make two teams among us to participate. Today, we were well short of people, we somehow needed to make the magic number 8. The match was to start at 3PM, After making numerous amount of calls and by all means of hook and crook we finally had a team by 1PM! This new team was unique, with everyone claiming to be able to do a little bit of everything. All of us hadn’t played together before, hardly knew what each had to offer. Though, thankfully I didn't have the tough challenge of dropping people, I had a small task of using the resources well, which also meant disappointing and under-using a few.
Fresh from reading an article the day before, which spoke about distinct kind of leadership. First one was the 'LION' kind, where the leader leads from the front and will take all the decisions by instinct and self-confidence. Initially I thought, I’ll adopt this type. I won the toss and decided we’ll bat first. Though common sense suggested as it was heavily overcast and would pour, the chasing team had all the advantages, if the game was shortened. But, I knew in the back of my mind, we were a team which could defend anything.There was a storm coming and we were ready to take it down head-on!
We had a formidable batting line up with skill and experience of Sajith, Gireesh and Tushar. So, I decided I’ll open the innings with Gireesh and slog the team to a flying start. But, that was not to be, the gamble failed and I was out first ball, trying to slog a straight one over the mid-wicket. Soon after Tushar got a good ball and followed, we were 3-2 after the first over. Unfortunately it started pouring heavily and the ball got heavier, almost making it extremely tough to to put away, with our bat designed for softer balls. The feared storm had arrived. But, our batsman were up for it Maddy, Ravee, Natraj, Gautam, all provided an excellent support to our tried and tested batting regiment, reaching a total of 91.
It was defending time now. I opened the bowling, having an intimidating long run up and attempting get the ball as fast as possible past the batsman, with a purpose of exerting fear in their hearts. We started of keeping a standard field and the opposition knowing the total was smallish, started playing with minimal risk.The total was about 17-0 and they were under no pressure,thus cruising towards the target. We needed something very special here to survive n the tournament.
Now, it was time to get to the next type of leadership, the 'TIGER' kind, where you form a pack and attack, take the collective ideas and form a bigger, stronger, wiser force. After a brief discussion with Tushar and deciding to significantly change our present length of bowling, we decided to get all the fielders into the inner circle. The forceful application of pressure affected both the teams, we had a new lease of force, there was chirping going on, the bowling was being done with a new sense of purpose and exactly what we had hoped for, the opposition crumbled. "When the going got tough, the tough got going!" We strangled them and got them all-out for just 26.
One of the best qualities of this team was they trusted each and every call I took and delivered when required. Tushar as always bowled with military precision and accuracy,and rightfully was awarded the Man of the Match. Literally, we had weathered a storm to rise victorious and play the finals on Sunday.
