Dear Shane Warne, I am enclosing an article that I wrote when me and my family encountered you at Taj Fort Aguada, Goa, India in May’2008.  Do take time out to read. Regards, Padmini

Shane Warne, You Rock! By Padmini Sundaram

When you are on the wrong side of thirty, it helps to have three teenaged girls accompany you on a family holiday to Goa to make you feel young at heart and in spirit.  And it isn’t often that four young ladies end up sharing a hotel swimming pool with the likes of Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Graeme Smith.  I guess lady luck was kind to us.!What began as a gateway for my two older sister’s, me and our respective spouses, children and mother was a most exhilairtating holiday What we had’nt bargained for was the sheer joy, brazenness and zest of the teenagers ( my three nieces) and our encounter with the magnetic Shane Warne! We also learnt three lessons in leadership from him which is what was the greatest takeaway for me and one which I am keen to share here.

As soon as we reached Taj Fort Aguada resort the teenagers got a whiff that the Rajasthan Royals were camping in the hotel too.  (This was just before the Jaipur blasts happened.  ) No one required binoculars to look for Shane Warne and Watson, for my three nieces were tracking their every movement!  And lo-behold they hijacked Warne while he was on his way to the spa.  Ignoring our raised eyebrows and plea to give the man his privacy, they rushed and asked him for a Photo!  Warne obliged with a photograph but subtly scurried them off.  Lesson one, handling intrusion politely but firmly.  The girls toed the line after that and kept their distance! The next day Warne was by the pool.  I am sure he knew there were atleast 30 pair of eyes watching his moves including, watch him sunbathe.  The man was completely composed, and yes fit as a fiddle, his physique belying his thirty-eight years.  He went about all his tasks, the swim, the drying up and the works absolutely poised. Lesson Two, Complete oneness with the task at hand and shutting off everything else around.

Later in the evening, Warne and his team mates were having an early dinner in an Italian Restaurant.  Coincidently I was having a quite dinner with my mother and two sisters’ there too.  Warne’s group of three were neck deep in conversation while enjoying the delectable cuisine.  His manager just then conveyed the news of the terror blasts at Jaipur . Warne anguished cry still rings in my ears.  The player’s quickly finished their meal and returned to their rooms.  Thereafter we followed Warnes and his teams fortunes on telly and we weren’t surprised that Warne’s team soon went on to beat Deccan Chargers royally, in the next match and the line that they said was that this victory was for the people of Jaipur who had seen so much pain. Remember Warne was an outsider and there was immense pressure from family of every foreign player back home to immediately return home.  Prize money not withstanding extreme fear can lead to drastic actions.  Lesson three: Complete bonding and concern for one’s environment.  Conviction to stand by one’s team and courage to execute under pressure.

We had planned a holiday to Goa but were blessed with precious moments with one of Crickets and now IPLs greatest Legend. 

Thank you Shane Warne for making my summer holiday truly special. And as the girls rightly say “You Rock”! Yes a teenager knows best.

Warnie, you are a genius. Good luck in whatever you do

Hi Shane, Welcome to America! I’m a huge fan of your bowling; congratulations on your IPL win. Look forward to hearing more about your poker experiences on our shores.

April 10, 2008, Jaipur: Neeraj Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Salunkhe, Mahesh Rawat, Siddharth Trivedi, others come for practice for Rajasthan Royals. Shane Warne leads a rag-tag team labelled no-hopers.

April 11-17, 2008, Jaipur: Darren Berry, Jeremy Snape and Shane Warne, the think-tank, pick the team with clear roles for everyone. Darren tells the team “Don’t get away from your role. If you perform your role and I perform mine, we win”. Warne doesn’t know the opposition players. Zubin Barucha draws up an analysis of the strengths of each player of rival teams. Did someone say “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”? Warne meets every team member. He tells them: “We have nothing to lose. Let’s go out there, play good cricket and enjoy.” It’s all about knowing your people.

April 19, Delhi: The first match. Royals lose to Delhi Daredevils. While every team is doing computer analysis of matches, Shane plays inspirational videos for the team. He told them “Don’t worry about analysis. You are competing with yourself. Matches are won on the ground. You play the ball, not the bowler”.

April 24, Hyderabad: Warne and Graeme Smith, sworn rivals, are on the same side. The think tank has differences of opinion on match strategy. They agree to “honestly debate every issue. Our differences will remain within the four walls.” 14 required of 4 deliveries. Andrew Symonds is the bowler; Warne, the batsman. Warne smashes fours and sixes and gets victory for the Royals. Here there’s “leading by example”.

May 7, Mumbai: Royals lose by 7 wickets. Warne tells the team: “You slogged across the line. Was that part of the role we agreed? If you breach the script, no place here”. It’s not reputation that matters — it’s performance.

May 9, Jaipur : Warne plays Yusuf Pathan, a strong middle-order batsman, as an opener. Rivals Deccan Chargers is flummoxed. Pathan smashes 68 off 37 and wins the match. Did someone say “true leaders, surprise the opposition, they are flexible and play horses for courses”.

Mid-May, Goa: Players take a break and are off to Goa. Swapnil Asnodkar, the Goa lad, invites Graeme Smith, Shane Warne and others home for dinner. Warne and his team head for Asnodkar’s home. Warne went beyond cricket and made his players feel they were family. Would Asnodkar do anything but the best for his captain? Zahir, the bag man, lost his mother during the tour, but stayed on. Why?

May 26, Jaipur: Needing 15 runs of the last over, Ravindra Jadeja and Neeraj Patel are at the crease; young rookies. They face Dilhara Fernando, the Sri Lankan seamer. Jadeja and Patel script an incredible victory, leaving Sachin Tendulkar speechless.

June 1, Mumbai : The “Mosquito squadron” wins the IPL. Warne holds aloft the trophy and says “It was great to be in the same team. Boys, we don’t know if this group will be together again. Let us make sure tonight is one of the best nights of our life”. Did I study somewhere that great leaders celebrate success with their teams? While many teams went for astronomical bids, Warne and his team got the lowest. In fact, Warne did not go for a dollar more than his reserve price of $450,000. The Rajasthan Royals proved that great teams do things “better, simpler and cheaper.” At Tesco, it is often said “A leader is one who can take you to a place, much further than what you imagined”.

Shane Warne did exactly that. He got ordinary cricketers do extra-ordinary things. To win, what we need is performance, not icons! If Lagaan captured our imagination on celluloid, Rajasthan Royals have done it before our eyes. Isn’t this a case-study in people management? Harvard, Chicago GSB, IIMs — are you listening?