It has been one year since i wrote my last blog. I have been occupied fully in many activities: writing a book for students of 10th standard for choosing their careers, developing a leadership architecture for an organisation, and above all, coaching.
IPL-2 ended with a bang. Due to the twists and turns of the security issues, IPL this time got hosted in a country, that i am fascinated with. I have stayed in Johannesburg for 10 months, and have seen their cricket craze from very close. South Africans are as religious about cricket as Indians.
More than IPL-1, this IPL proved that IPL has been a best training ground for training our budding cricketers. Because of the four-foreigners restriction, this has helped many youngsters to experience the rivalry and test their skills in the international cricket conditions from close. The tougher wickets of RSA further have further increase the bar and know where they stand in the pecking order.
If you have read the posts of Adam Gilchrist or Lehman, you will realise that even they consider their highest personal satisfaction as ' grooming raw Indian talent'. I was more surprised to read Adam Gilchrist observations that 20-20 cricket is more testing than Test cricket, because it forces one to focus on the game 100% as it leaves little chance of recovering from a lapse. In other words, every brand of cricket tests different skill sets. Although purists may disagree, it is obvious that this '100% focus' will also help test cricketer.
I hope our training manager, Lalit Modi, does not heed to the cry of some of the team franchisees of relaxing the four-foreigner rule. Although ILP-2 happened in RSA due to chance, he could use this serendiptious event to plan the next IPLs in different countries and conditions.
