Remember Vijay Amritraj? In the 1970s, this young man had made waves in the international tennis world with his promise and talent. He was part of the ABC of international tennis, along with Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors. Yet, he failed to fully exploit his talent and live up to the initial promise he showed. While donning the national colours, however, Vijay Amritraj did exceedingly well. He once took the Indian team to the Davis Cup finals and kept the country in the prestigious World Group of the tournament for many years.
One quality of his, even when he was playing on the professional circuit, stood out. In spite of playing great tennis and taking an almost unassailable lead in the game, he would suddenly paint himself into a corner, almost on the verge of losing the match. It is only in such moments, Vijay Amritraj, with his back to the wall, would play his best tennis. That was Vijay Amritraj. He will only excel under pressure.
This is the underdog syndrome. Irrespective of whether you are the top seed or a favourite to win a tournament, you are likely to slip up and fare poorly in the early stages of a tournament or a match. Only after you perform badly and run the risk of losing the match or the tournament do you get back your natural rhythm and go for the win. The underdog syndrome can cost you dearly. Great players, suffering from this syndrome, end their career without ever exploiting their full potential. Vijay Amritraj was certainly one of them.
The Indian cricket team also suffers from this syndrome. Recall India’s Cricket World Cup victory in 1983. After a string of creditable victories against formidable teams such as Australia and England, India put together a paltry total of 183 runs in 60 overs. Nobody gave India a chance to win the final with that low a score. This is when the underdog syndrome kicked in. With their back to the wall, ordinary-looking Indian bowlers put up a scintillating performance and bundled out the mighty West Indians to lift the Prudential Cup.
Why are we talking about Vijay Amritraj, the Indian cricket team and the underdog syndrome? Think about it and you will realise that a discussion on this issue is quite appropriate, considering what happened to the 19th Commonwealth Games, which opened in New Delhi last Sunday. As early as in 2003, India won the right to hold the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. It had seven years to prepare for the Games. A year ago, the first alarm bell rang since the construction of not even one of the main Games projects was on schedule.
Nobody in the government or the Games organising committee lost his sleep over these warning signals. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit even rationalised the delays arguing that the preparations for the Commonwealth Games were like those for an Indian wedding. In the early days, there is utter chaos, but at the end everything comes together and the wedding takes place without any glitches.
Critics pooh-poohed Ms Dikshit’s rationalisation of the delays, but few realised that her explanation was also an indirect articulation of the great Indian penchant for painting yourself into a corner before losing all the advantages of an early start. Once you lose that advantage and run the risk of cancellation of the Games along with the levy of all kinds of penalties, you are firmly ensconced in the underdog’s seat.
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That is the inflexion point. Everybody gives up hopes of any recovery. The world pronounces you a loser. That is when the underdog wakes up from his somnolence and surprises everyone with tactical moves and quick rearguard action to make amends. The world, which had given up all hopes on the underdog, is pleasantly surprised and after seeing that India has pulled off the show, showers its praise and approbation for a job well done.
That is what happened to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. Why the world appreciated last Sunday’s show was not because it was a grand achievement on a scale comparable to the best that came from other countries, particularly China. The appreciation came because the world was relieved that after messing it up so comprehensively during the early stages of the preparations, the Indians finally managed to keep the show going.
There is every reason, therefore, to believe that after earning the world’s praise for salvaging the opening ceremony, Indian organisers will once again slip up and paint themselves into a corner. Once they are with their backs to the wall, they will again rise to the occasion and make amends to salvage the situation. That is the Indian way of doing things. You may also call it the underdog syndrome.