Tranquility factor can be well grasped in Sharja

Well, so be it, even if it meant cricket taking a back seat for a while. Catching people doing things right is a powerful human concept. It is a marvellous way to interact with and affirm the people in your life. This humble message is not for Mr Clinton but for our own Saurav Ganguly. Many well-intentioned leaders pause to pat their people untill they do things exactly right — complete the project or accomplish their target.

The problem here is that the wait could be endless, which may well suit our adminstrators but not our sport.

The sensible thing would be to instantly praise progress (if any!) — it is a moving goal. Imagine making a child stand up and commanding him to “walk”. And when the poor thing falls to spank him and further order, “ I told you to walk.” Far often Indian cricket is fed negative information, like “ white-washing” a performacne review and behaving as if all is well when it really isn’t.

The belief that we control our won self-belief/esteem permits us to listen to feedbacks in a non-defensive way. We must choose to feel good about ourselves. Even then our "okayness" should not be up for grabs. My experience suggests that no one can make us feel inferior without our permission. Also, it is amazing how much one can accomplish if one doesn’t care who gets the credit.

I sincerely hope I am not inflicting myself on Ganguly. But these simple thoughts are only for the consumption of the Indian captain. Constant change is as much a natural phenomenon in life as it is in any business. And to stay in a competitive aroma, one has to simultaneously manage the present with plans for the immediate future.

Sharjah is one venue where the tranquility factor can well be grasped. And when it comes to an explosive experience, Sharjah has all the ingredients to test temparements. On both counts, the much-touted experience of the Indians (by far the most experienced one-day team in the world), can add to their gains.

Practice perfection under pressure. Cricket, is, after all, a game of errors. The team that commits fewest in a contest usually wins. It takes ferocious concentration and unyeilding committment to continous improvement. That means day-to-day setting of clear goals, observing and absorbing, mutually progress progress and redirecting collective efforts.

Nobody can coach from the press box. So leave the media alone and let them do their job and you do your own…which is on the field. Stick with your responsibilities to Saurav, and remember to catch your colleagues doing "something" right.