Rohit Sharma – immortal as leader?

Rohit’s team of 2023 will go down as perhaps the greatest team to never win the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The wounds of India’s Cricket World Cup (WC) 2023 finals loss still lie gaping three days later as a nation has been stunned into silence and denial. The only minor upside seems that we are not flooded with a million ‘Lessons from India’s win’ on social media.

Rohit’s team of 2023 will go down as perhaps the greatest team to never win the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. What did Rohit do differently? I’d like to go with the defining title of the NYT bestseller, ‘What Got You Here Won't Get You There’.

To develop a winning culture, we need four indisputable pillars:

* Purpose

* Skill

* Will

* Example

Minus one of these pillars, the whole edifice collapses.

Meaning / Purpose

Cricket is often referred to as a true microcosm of India. Indeed, the four ideals enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution include Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. But for a country otherwise fractured by caste, creed, politics, language and state, cricket presents a glue like no other. It is this unity in diversity, this fraternity or brotherhood of Sharma and Shami that makes India strong.

Two years ago, when Shami was accused of throwing away a match against Pakistan by a section of Indians, Virat Kohli strode into the mess, declaring, “our brotherhood and friendship within the team, nothing can be shaken”. This was Kohli’s biggest century ever, according to some. And when we scream, Indiaaaa, Indiaaaa… it is brotherhood that gives tangible, felt meaning to this abstract idea of fighting or playing for India.

And for the rasping celebrations, raging humour, tight hugs and even the odd invective, captain Sharma may have earned his immortality as an oracle to India of the pinnacles we might reach when we live and play in fraternity.

Skill

No more does it signify clear merit, opportunity and morale than the Indian cricket team, which is a high standard not emulated by our other institutions by a fair distance. Credit therefore to a system that brings out equity and merit in our present India captain from a room where he slept with his feet touching the wall, and lived with seven others in a 100 sq ft home in crowded Mumbai. Then, there is the reach of cricket to the hinterlands where everyone might dream, and a destructive Mohammed Shami emerges from a village in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, with seven wickets in India’s semi-final win against New Zealand.

Will

You will be fully backed in the role you are meant to play, was the undiluted message to the team. The other star of the semi-final victory with 105 runs, Shreyas Iyer, had this to say, “It is pivotal, coming from the captain and coach. I did not have a great start to the World Cup. They told me not to worry about the outside noise, we are backing you, so you just got to go out there and express yourself.”

Kohli too, was backed to the hilt against his lack of form and the naysayers, and with a bit of mental conditioning from Paddy Upton last year rose to be World Cup 2023’s primary icon and cheerleader.

Lead By Example

Rohit was determined to transform his team into world-beaters. Just how self-sacrificing was this to be? Sharma, the highest scorer in the 2019 WC with five centuries and 648 runs at an average of 88, and with three double-centuries in a format where no one else had two was going to restyle himself in 50-overs cricket as Hitman.

He’s scored only two ODI 100s since 2022. After scoring a century once every 4.5 games, he's had one every 17 games. He would lead by example, sacrificing himself with explosive starts just short of milestones as in the semis and finals at 47, enabling others to lift their hands to personal achievements while able to express themselves with new aggression.

All he now wanted was a Cup for his team, his country and himself. India for the first time presented themselves as overwhelming favourites.

What Got You Here Won't Get You There

Nevertheless, India encountered what Brett Lee has called it that ‘old Aussie mentality to never ever give up’. Having been bold, did India miss a trick or two in reverting to old instead in the finals, in preparing a low and slow wicket, batting first, and not backing their quicks who had wrought devastation thus far?

Twice now, India has come up as bridesmaids to the Aussies on the biggest stage this year including at the World Test finals, and once at its own show. It reminds me of an Indian bank that tried to get the high prize of HNIs from foreign banks in times past, and failed repeatedly, until they hired the relationship managers from those banks, who moved with their relationships.

We might have opted for one from among their famed ranks, our decimator
-in-chief from the 2003 World Cup final, one Ricky Ponting for help in breaking what has been termed ‘Australianism’.

As it stands, it appears Australian captain Cummins seems to havegatecrashed our party, with big bold counter-intuitive steps, including fielding first, setting innovative, planned and tight fields for each player, dumbing down their bowling and then some. Nothing fancy. Dravid presented, “we gave it our everything”. Not true.

Rohit gave us more than just cricket – fraternity and pride. For 46 days we forgot our differences in a sustained national celebration like never before. For this, and for uniting our fractured senses before we get further into the dance of democracy, and into 2024, Rohit Sharma of that 100 sq ft home in Mumbai deserves to be immortal, for he dared to dream, and make us part of it.

Navin Tauro is a global leadership expert. Views are personal, and do not represent the stance of this publication.