Why RR have already won IPL6 and IPL is going to change from here on...

T20 games are designed in a way that’s really unfair to bowlers. Coming up with a strategy(s) to win such a format is no mean task. Hey but the world is unfair in many respects i.e. it’s not a level playing field. So having a few tricks up the sleeve is just not enough, but devising a whole new approach is needed. It’s difficult to ignore the ‘Moneyball’ approach in this context.

The ongoing IPL series is turning out to be a good to learn on strategizing strategies and team management. To select a team for such an event is a challenge. Mr Cricket (Rahul Dravid) and co. just spent 10% of the total cash to source a team that started as underdogs and has been on top form. Just yesterday they won against the tournament favourites, top performing and popular CSK (Chennai). There has been some chatter on twitter and such social-media sites about a defensive strategy – personally nothing wrong as I see it.

A subtle thing that I noticed (not many are discussing this subtlety) is the strategic time-out that Dravid called at the end of 9^th over. Until then, CSK were sitting merrily and hadn’t lost even a wicket. This time-out in my opinion changed things. I also ask the CSK that if they realised Dravid is applying a defensive tactic by delaying Watson, an option could have been to brig Ashwin early. I guess a smart man like Dhoni knew, that there were very few choices and only wait for chances.

There are some thoughts that play in my mind, CSK, MI and RCB have some very good quality and known players – so they winning the matches and climbing to top is not something a feat. It’s the likes of Rajasthan that sourced unknown players and have gone on to be the top 2^nd team. Even if they lose the finals, it doesn’t matter – they have shown ways to tackle an unfair situation to advantage. To show an analogy, currently another unrelated story is doing rounds in local papers in Tamil Nadu – schools select best performing students and coach them to secure state ranks and the criticism is that they should choose average and below average students, coach and make ‘em excel. In a way Dravid & co. have done the exact opposite – they chose a mix of players – some good ones and average ones to go on and win everything that came their way.

These are very valuable lessons that I will apply in future not only in business, but personal choices too.

1.  There is a context for everything and strategy is ongoing, need to be revised continuously – sometimes need to be brave and radical – c’mon it is a huge risk to source a team for 10% of total cash, where the temptation is to go all out and buy top players

2.  Don’t pay too much for the skills – sometimes an over-priced player may not deliver (all that glitters is not gold, also if it’s a tin, you can polish it and sell it as a silver!)

3.  A mixture of skills, with some leadership roles is enough to deliver the magic

4.  Finally – have some secrets up your sleeve!

I think we have a winner for IPL6 - RR... Because the IPL has just got interesting - next year rest of the teams are going to look at their wallets and skills before buying out top players!