The Cup and the Lip

The game is over. The guessing game is also over. The game that kept Indians hooked for a good 42 days and the Kiwis for all 45 finally ended to the disappointment of the fans of the two most promising sides. The Indians looked like capable of making it, but could not. The Kiwis almost made it but could not. That is how it happens. As the saying goes there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. The Indian fans learnt this in the semi-finals. And the fans of the New Zealand team in the finals. As cricketing brains carry on with their post facto analysis of what went wrong or right, one axiomatic truth needs to be revisited – the results do not always depend on efforts. They depend on something more. And this something more is called by many names. Even somebody like Napoleon could also realize this though he was popularly known to be a person who always valued sincerity of efforts over all other things. The story goes that on one occasion Napoleon was looking for an effective person to be his general. A few were shortlisted and his advisors finally zeroed in on one name, citing his qualities. When the name was recommended to Napoleon he asked a question to the advisors – ‘Is he Lucky also’? That sums it all. Not that efforts do not matter. They do, when all other things are equal. But luck or chance is something that matters even when all other things are not equal. So, after the world cup is over, there is little point in debating what would have happened had this or that not happened. In the semi-final between India and Australia, the experts felt the toss was instrumental in the loss. But what happened in the finals? Tosses and Losses are not related. The events are mutually exclusive. Only the human brain in trying to prove its point lends causality to unrelated things. They talk of the law of averages. Well that is what chance is. Or else why would McCullum, the danger man, depart for a duck. In Management theory they talk about the Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And what about the much touted theory of cricketing experts that it is a mind game where what you need is a lot of nerves. This theory too needs to be revisited in the light of the fact that why those nerves hold on one occasion and give way on another. So the question has to be reframed – whether cricket is about a lot of nerves or a bit of luck? The best course is to think of it as a sport in which there has to be a loser in order to have a winner. And the other golden rule is that you cannot win always. Wins and losses are two sides of the same coin. You have to take both in your stride. The Gita cannon is always reassuring. ‘You have the right to work, but never to the results of the work. Never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for in action. So after the end of the World Cricket Cup Tournament for India it is ‘well played’ and for the Kiwis – better luck next time.