WINNING POSITIONS
or
Win from any position.
A retired boxer told me this story over a beer.
That he could now beer certified retirement.
Previously, when he boxed he could only watch others beer.
Maybe that’s why he retired. But that’s not the story.
This is:
Some dirty dozen years back, a British middleweight boxer was desperate to win.
So desperate that he was prepared to do the unthinkable: he was ready to box a win into his head!
What’s that? How do you, eh, box a win, into your head, sir?
First, sit in a comfortable chair in a dimmed room.
Make sure you are not lying down as that increases the chances of falling asleep, which is not the goal of hypnosis.
Hypnosis did you say?
That’s right, the boxer had himself hypnotized.
He heard strange voices in his head. These strange voices went something like this: “I will have vengeance, I will be victorious”
Come to think of it, they can be monotonous when heard repeatedly, but not for this boxer.
Come boxing day (not December 26th in this case), our boxer was still under the spell.
Once into the fight, he was well out of it. Down for the count, but up again. And that went on and on. Round after round. Down, up. Up, down.
Clearly he was hearing that voice in his head. He was under the winning charm.
And then, out of nowhere, he swung one into his opponent’s head, and that was that.
Hypnosis had worked. He had won. From a highly unlikely position; or as Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals, he too believed in “win from all positions”.
It started as a joke when the Rajasthan franchise didn’t even use its allocated funds at the auction. Next, much retired Shane Warne as both captain and coach. Sounds familiar?
In a nation that picks poster-boy batsmen as captains, Anil Kumble was the last resort.
That Kumble could think was not a prerequisite. That Tendulkar wasn’t game, clinched it.
Coming from that history, it takes a lot for India to understand the almost hypnotic stranglehold Warnie has on his wards.
Ok, he can captain, so what? Possibly, Tendulkar being buddies with Warne creates bigger headlines here. Those “nightmares of Sachin’s Sharjah sixes” are Warne’s favourite bytes to the media, and how they lap it up. So, he knows what you want to hear. What else?
He’s a straight shooter –made no qualms about his less than amorous relationship with then Aussie Coach John Buchanan. Or for that matter, with Saurav Ganguly during their recent IPL encounter.
But still he’s a little thin on skipper-lore: Hampshire county captain, a ten odd ODI winning streak in Steve Waugh’s absence, and he becomes the best captain Australia never had?
Does that negate the pre-World Cup drugs fiasco that his mummy prescribed? Or is that non-cricketing too?
In many ways, Warne’s persona is beyond that of a mere cricketer. His stature, deeds, misdeeds, seeds sown, and what he has reaped, are in the realm of rock star royalty. When alleged romantic liaisons extend beyond a record wicket tally, the Rajasthan Royals and Hampshire lads must be in no less in awe of Warne than say, London’s lasses were of the Beatles and the Stones in the 60s (and not in their 60s).
It’s not just that Warne has this coolness about him, but he can still play top draw cricket. He can think, talk and walk that talk. He’s in the zone. But there is no zonal bias – he’s comfy arming around Paki keeper Akmal on the bench, with an aside, a joke, just one of the mates. At the same time, when he sits in the dugout, he’s assertive enough to tell his mates to vacate a seat to have two for you know who!
In a way, there’s a bit of Warne in M.S. Dhoni too. To realise that you’re not just a cricketing nerd, but there’s life beyond cricket. Look what that thinking did for Saurav Ganguly’s career.
Win from all positions – doesn’t matter if it’s Round 2 or 8, whether you’re down for the count or winning on a canter,
And when His Master’s Voice deigns to speak to his flock, are they are mesmerized? Hypnotized?
Do they stand up on their benches like school kids, reciting in unison, “O Captain! My Captain!”
Five wins on the trot, top of the League, does it even matter if they win or lose from here?
Regardless of what happens next, Warne has used his team’s Ninja like invisibility to its advantage.
You never know when, how or who will strike.
But strike they will.
GG: Thank you very much sir!
regards, gaurav
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sraghuna: suspect he is a fillipino.
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Gaurav: This is stuff for somebody like Neville Cardus to wax elequent about, or now a Gaurav Sethi ! Like Wally Hammond's thousand runs in May or Ranjitsinhji's cover drive.
Rgds, Girdhar
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Shane Warne is no longer Shane 'Worn' & though it is debatable that this Gaijin's effective marshalling of his 'ninja' wards may be attributable to mesmerism. On the other hand the salubrious effects of his smoking, drinking & other random acts of hedonism are more than evident. Warnie is not 'Worn-outie' simply because his consumption of the abovementioned 'wunder'substances has added a fillip to his prodigous talent! Bottoms up folks!!!
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