A disappointing cricket spectacle

The Super Series just ended- the cricket super series I mean. It was Australia against World XI, a conglomeration of the very best talent in the world barring Sachin Tendulkar, who is still recovering from his tennis elbow. The last time something like this was played was way back in 1971, incidentally again in Australia and the hype for this series was enormous. The very best talent in the world had been put together to challenge the mighty Aussies at their home turf.

It turned out to be a no contest. The World XI got thrashed- in both versions of the game, the one dayers and the tests. What was being projected as the cricket spectacle of the year turned to be a damp squib. The World XI batsmen just couldnt tackle the guile of the Warne and Macgill on a turning Sydney track. But there is more to it than meets the eye.

The broader question is- can you get talented individuals together into a cohesive team within a very short span of time?

And the answer seems to be no. Individuals may be talented but the team is more than a summation of individual talents- it requires complementarity, camaderie and passion, something that was clearly missing from the World XI players whose individual records were impeccable but collectively as a team, they failed miserably. Top teams aren't created overnight- they require painstaking effort to mould individual talents into a cohesive, fighting unit. That goes for sports teams as much as it goes for businesses. Individual brilliance needs to be supplemented with appropriate team dynamics for best synergies to take place. The spectacle Down Under only goes to reinforce that point!