What they haven’t written so far

In less than thirty hours since India’s ICC World Cup 2011 win, English newsprint describing, dissecting and eulogising the victory is already larger than the carpet area of an average middle class Mumbai home. Consider all languages, and the area occupied would perhaps beat the size of a bungalow in Jharkhand!

What has not been written so far, or, more honestly, what I have failed to read so far, is the following:

1. Experts are entitled to their opinion. So are the street-smart blokes. Regardless of its origin, the opinion is contradictory, and so, by a simple arithmetical logic, partly erroneous. Wins are achieved when the opinion of the bystanders is not allowed to dictate the action of those entrusted with planning, strategy formulation and execution.
2. Products that serve both ends of the spectrum are difficult to be dislodged by the competition. Normally, the left handed Yuvraj Singh should have joined Gautam Gambhir at the fall of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket, but that would have meant having two left handed batsmen at the crease. Dhoni, a right handed batsman, elevated himself in the batting order, resulting in the need for fresh field setting by Sri Lanka after every single run and and the end of each over.
3. The cash cow (Sachin Tendulkar – 18 runs) and the star product (Virendra Sehwag – no run) may fail to sell at the most crucial moment. The problem child (Dhoni – 150 runs in 7 innings before the final, 91 runs in the 8th and final innings) may bring about spectacular results with a change in product positioning strategy.
4. It is not enough to have a sympathetic or friendly market – urge customers to voice their sentiments in the market place. The entire stadium singing the national anthem with Team India at the beginning of the match, playing of songs motivating India throughout the match, and public expression of support were a damper for the Sri Lankans.
5. Just because something never happened in the past doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. Till India won the World Cup 2011, (i) no host nation had ever won the title, (ii) no team had won the finals if their opponent hit a century in the match, (iii) scores such as 274 were never successfully chased, and (iv) the success rate of the side batting second was only 33%.
6. The shrewdest marketer can miss an opportunity noticed by a field-salesman. The umpire negated the LBW appeal against Thilan Samaraweera. When the bowler Yuvraj Singh insisted, the review was taken and the dangerous batsman had to return to pavilion at 33.
7. Your competitor may write your success story. Had Pakistan not dropped Sachin Tendulkar (85 runs) four times in the semi final, the Cup, perhaps, would have been won by some other team.
8. Brand equity matters a lot. It was perhaps the excitement of dismissing Sachin that led to Pakistan flooring four of his catches. In the old days, mere presence of Sunil Gavaskar at the slips made opponent batsmen over conscious of their technique.
9. Perseverance pays. Even when the dice appeared to be turned against, facing 48 overs and two balls paid rich dividends.