DHONI AND Mourinho are currently basking in the glory of their inspired leadership triumphs. One led the Chennai Super Kings to the IPL title and the other guided Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League final. There is an uncanny similarity in the radical tactics employed by the two men and the number which is representative of those tactics. It is the number ‘THREE’.
Conventional wisdom states that T-20 sides generally play with one specialist spinner. If the pitch is expected to spin then they might just play two. Dhoni broke the mould by going into the knock-out games with three spinners and in the end it proved to be a masterstroke.
In European club football, when teams are protecting a lead in an away game, they generally play with a lone striker upfront. In an off chance they might play a second one. Mourinho digressed from this beaten path and selected three forwards in away games. It proved to be a tour de force as Inter Milan stunned both Chelsea and CSKA in their away games. You can never have ‘two’ much of a good thing.