Change Room Politics

The Virat-Kumble spat is much public and the row between the Indian cricket captain and the now ex-head coach of the team has been officially documented in the resignation letter of the latter. Kumble quit of grounds of irrevocable set of differences with the Indian captain. While, leaks about Kumble over-bearing character and his alleged coercion of the players who performed poorly have been doing rounds.

Virat who is in the eye of storm had maintained his silence. In the latest World is One News (WION) interview he refused to spill the beans of what actually transpired between the two referring the same to the sanctity of the “Change Room”. Virat swears by the ideology of  ‘what happens in the “Change Room”, stays in the “Change Room”,  a supposedly consciously constructed culture of the team, which he does not intend to flout.

Virat achieved three objectives by using the “Change Room” defence for his no comment –

> One, by refusing to discuss details he has successfully created an impression that Kumble flouted the “Change Room” culture by washing his dirty linen in public.

> Second, he also rose above the ordinary by not allowing himself to follow his coach’s footsteps.

> And finally, he also put a shroud of mystery on what actually happened inside the four walls of the “Change room”, thus further fuelling public's interest in the same. Public attention is after all good marketing. 

However Kumble and Kohli both have played the "Change Room" politics. - the former by disclosing the contents to the public, the latter by refusing to do so under the garb of ethics. 

Kumble's behaviour amply shows that in he power struggle, he has lost the game and enjoys little support from the board , captain and the players. Kumble took to the gallows not before desperately throwing the knife at Kohli's throat. He perhaps feels a bit vindicated by taking a snipe at his tormentor. 

Kohli on the other hand is definitely one up in the power equation. His silence is a sign of his security and also his growing smartness. He enjoys support and to an extent the board and players are dependent on him to lead the cricket team for the time being.  

In public eye, Kumble has emerged as a sore victim and Kohli as a resilient leader who does not believe in burning bridges or malicious finger-pointing in public. We will leave the debate of who is to fault for this fallout between the two to the Indian cricket board, but for now it is Kohli -1, Kumble - 0  when it comes to public perception. Kohli though will have to now bear the immense load of public expectation, now that he has a free hand.

Power and politics and behaviour have an interesting relationships. Politics is mostly played behind curtains that might manifest itself as "Change Room politics" or "Board Room politics", "Dinner politics" or the more murkier bedroom politics. Who wins the 'game' depends not that much on who is right; more on who creates more dependency that fosters power and sways public perception in one's own favour. this is exactly how politicians get away by many times doing something that is wrong and unpleasant. 

Niccolo Machiavelli, a late 15th century political advisor and political theorist, explained this beautifully in descrbing 'Machiavellanism' personality trait.

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