The journey of cricketing superpowers

Right from the first world cup in 1975, till the mid-80s, the West Indies team was unconquerable in the game of cricket. Winners of the world cup in the first two world cup tournaments, the team was considered completely dominant and unconquerable. They had a power packed batting line up, who could tear apart the best bowling attacks with their huge sixes, and a lethal bowling attack, which was the nightmare of any opposition batsman. However, by the time the late 1980s arrived, they slowly started seeming a normal outfit, which could be defeated if targeted in the right way. The Aussie victory in the 1987 world cup signalled the beginning of the end, even though the West Indies outfit was still a force to reckon with, with greats like Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh etc. However, though strokes of individual brilliance shone through, the team was not able to perform well consistently, and defeats became more frequent.

West Indies was replaced by the Australian team at the pinnacle in the 1990s. The formidable team that was formed under Allan Border, was taken by able successors like Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and finally, Ricky Ponting. The Aussies were able to keep up the fort for almost two weeks, because they planned and designed the next team, before one set of star players faced retirement. The transitions from one captain to another were smooth and pre-calculated. However, even they were caught on the back foot when a whole bunch of performers, including Mathew Hayden, Shane Warne, MrGrath etc, all retired within a short span of time. India is faced with the same danger, as we are now faced with the imminent retirement of the batting greats, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman.

All teams go through the initial stages where they take time to find their roots, before performers emerge, and a phase of consecutive victories occurs. This stage of maturity and maximum performance is sustained for some time, before the members of the team start getting old and retiring one by one. Thus, the team management should ensure that they constantly groom and nurture a bunch of young players, talented enough to slowly take the reins from the aging seniors.

This kind of succession planning is important for any kind of organizations or teams. Companies who have aging CEOs need to start planning beforehand and ensure a smooth transition, handing the power over to the next generation.