It’s cool to be nice, gentlemen champs

Nice guys finish last? Considering role models in various fields – in corporate, political, sporting, even creative playgrounds – seem to be rolling in their own ‘alpha-ness’, and rolling it out in spades for fans to rah-rah over, making evolutionary meat out of competitors, and slinging mud in every general direction isn’t just accepted but downright admired. Just ask Trump fans and foes. So, in this Machiavellian mela ground, India’s World Cup-winning team is that much extra special. The Men in Blue are champions, but champions who are gentlemen who have come out on top – without billboarding bluster, without marketing menace.

Sledging, that now-standard practice of players taunting their opponents to rattle them during play, which past Indian captains gladly imported for ‘tactical gains‘, isn’t something Rohit Sharma and his teammates keep in their kit. They simply don’t need it. Great fast bowlers of the past like Dennis Lillee and Shoaib Akhtar made bullying part of their arsenal. Instead, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah let their bowling – and their smiles – do the talking. And how. Whether it’s about the next quarter’s profits, or the next round of electioneering, our alphas can look to India’s T20 champs who have made mutual respect, and their ‘quiet riot’ superpowers the ingredient for success. They’ve made goodness cool again.