Character and destiny
Cricket-writers have long appropriated the idea that not only does character determine performance
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
Cricket-writers have long appropriated the idea that not only does character determine performance. If Sourav Ganguly was insolent, difficult, mercurial, provocative and flawed, Rahul Dravid was well-bred, consistent, a good sport and true. While Dravid would have been perfect captaincy material, Ganguly should have been a disaster as a leader.
However, Mukul Kesavan in his column in the Kolkata daily, the Telegraph believes the reasons for Ganguly’s success and Dravid’s and Tendulkar’s relative failure, have nothing to do with ‘character’; but judgment.
Character determines outcomes; further, particular kinds of character, dictate (or ought to dictate) particular sorts of outcomes. So flamboyant batsmen, however good, do less well in the character stakes than more formally organized, ‘solid’ players. They are likely to be indiscreet in the matter of shot selection, prone to untimely dismissal, less committed to the team interest. Their performances, their careers, turn on the axis of narcissism, of selfishness.