Was our World Cup 2007 team a high performance team?

Sri Lanka (SL) very nearly won the ICC Cricket World Cup (WC) for the 2nd time at the 2007 WC in the Caribbean. That we couldn’t was not for being any inferior to the eventual champs the Aussies, but continuous rain interruptions, which restricted our batting momentum, and the resulting Duckworth-Lewis mechanics, made the revised target virtually out of reach.

Apart from the above external factors, was our team truly a High Performance Team (HPT)?

The run up to the WC saw our team touring New Zealand (NZ) and India. This gave the lads the opportunity to hone their skills and test their batting and bowling prowess against top class opposition in different conditions.

HPTs take time to gel. Having played together for some time, the cricketers were gelling nicely. A fair number of them had previous WC experience, with 3 of them having played in all 3 preceding WCs (1996, 1999, 2003), some in 2 and a few others in one. So, the 2007 SL team was a closely knit, experienced outfit, well equipped, ready and hungry to lay hands on the WC!

Now, let us see whether the team did have the ingredients to qualify as an HPT. There are a few essential elements that go to make a HPT.

1. Shared Vision – First and foremost, an HPT should have a clear vision. Our 2007 cricketers did have the desire and the will to win the WC. This was their vision, both collectively and individually. It was evident from the preliminary stages of the WC campaign, that the team had their eyes on the finals and not merely on each game at a time. From the beginning, their all consuming ambition was to reach the WC finals and win. They knew it was within their reach and may have also drawn inspiration and confidence from their predecessors – the 1996 WC Champions.

2. Complementary Skills – A winning cricket team requires a set of cricketers who not only can play together, but can also cooperate with each other. They should have a useful set of complementary skills as professional cricketers, to p l ay ag ainst the best. Complementary skills are dissimilar skills such as different technical skills- technically sound, cavalier or unorthodox styles in batting- conventional and unorthodox styles in bowling too- seam, swing and toe crushing yorkers in the pace department, off-spin, legspin, doosras and other mysteries in spin bowling- agile close in fielding and wicket keeping combined with other complimentary soft skills of conflict resolution, problem solving and communication etc… the 2007 WC team had them all, with players of international repute specialising in all these skills.

3. Trust – Trust is essential to develop an effective team for, when members can trust each other, they have a sense of security and feel safe among them. As these cricketers had been playing together for a period of time, they knew their strengths and limitations. They knew they could trust each other to perform within those boundaries. There was no hint of trust deficiencies among any of them. Team 2007 was an excellent team.

4. Aligned/ Collaborat ive/ Common approach – Another attribute of a HPT is that, it is aligned to the task. Team 2007, as already pointed out, was aligned to the task of reaching the finals and winning the WC. They believed in collaborating with each other. A classic example of collaboration was noticeable at the rain reduced final against Australia - although winning was improbable, for circumstances beyond the team’s control,2 veterans decided to combine forces and take the challenge to the opponents, with a threatening partnership.

5. Roles – Each and every member of the SL team had a well-defined role to play, of which, they were well aware and accustomed to fulfill. How well they played their assigned roles was seen when, as many as 5 different SL players won the 'Man of the Match' award, out of 7 that SL won. There was even the instance when the SL's new ball bowler won the award jointly with a South Africa (SA) player, even though we lost the match in a preliminary round. 6-7 Batters were among the runs and all 6 bowlers took wickets in the run up to the finals. Every member was deeply committed to the role that he was expected to play in changing circumstances.

6. Ability to Adopt – HPTs are flexible and can change course, based on the circumstances. We saw the 2007 Sri Lankan Team change their combination, based on the opponent and venue/conditions, without rigidly persisting with the same combination. They employed different game plans to counter challenges in different matches. After their loss to SA, they had the ability to change course and started winning the rest of the matches, to move to the Super 8, at which, Lanka conceded a match to Australia, but thrashed NZ both at Super 8 level and in the semifinals.

7. Leadership – Strong leadership is a must for a HPT and the 2007 SL cricketers were blessed with one of the best cricketing leaders, with a shrewd cricketing brain to guide them. The skipper’s astute and strong leadership helped the team reach the Finals, despite losing 2 matches. He was inspiring, positive, led by example and always conducted himself in a professional manner, earning the respect, not only of his teammates, but opposing sides as well, for his conduct on and off the field.

We can therefore, conclude that the team possessed all the essential elements to be considered a HPT, a champion side indeed, second to none at the 2007 ICC Cricket WC, and one of the best teams in our cricketing history!

Taking High Performance to the world at large

Once you are a member of a HPT in a particular field, it enables you become a high performer in other areas as well. Here are some of the other achievements of members of the SL WC Team 2007. The captain was the coach of the 2019 IPL Champion team, the Vice-Captain is president designate of the MCC (one of several accomplishments), one an i n t e r nat i o n a l ly renowned Commentator, another an important member of the winning team/match winner in of the 2019 IPL Finals, one a champion fast bowler, who now contributes as a bowling coach, another the head coach of a Full ICC member country, one still remembered for his destructive batting, one for his wizardry in spin bowling and world's highest wicket taker, one for inventing a batting stroke named after him, all of whom have proved themselves as high performers in various fields!