• Take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously. Go out and let your hair down. — Sandy Gordon, Australian sports psychologist.

• Sometimes you beat the world, sometimes the world beats you. But then, be a sportsman. — Swami Parthasarathy, Indian Vedanta philosopher.

Even as Team India’s think-tank swears by Gordon’s maxim of never taking a backward step Down Under and sets about rolling out his triple-mantra formula (thinking sessions, no outsiders in dressing rooms, weekly goals), the 77-year-old cricketing Swami is confident his own 3Cs can help conquer all comers in the sporting arena.

The power of “concentration, consistency and cooperative endeavour” can blow away any opponent on the cricket pitch, feels Swami Parthasarathy, who plays cricket by day and addresses audiences on scriptural truths in the evenings.

The philosopher, who turned out for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, is no stranger to the Indian cricket team, having twice spoken to the players in a motivational role, much before the Board turned to Gordon. The first was in 1986, on the fourth day of the Chennai Test against Australia, with Gavaskar, Amarnath, Srikkanth, Shastri and skipper Kapil Dev as audience. The Indians went on to score a historic 347 to tie the match.

His second tryst with Team India came in Mumbai 2001, on the eve of the home series against the all-conquering Aussies, which India went on to win after the dramatic Calcutta turnaround. “The talent is there for all to see. But talent alone can’t win you matches. Control over emotions and anxiety and the ability to concentrate is vital. Even Sachin (Tendulkar) gets out to poor shot selection, because his mind wavers and he fails to focus on the job at times,” observes the Swami, whose book Vedanta Treatise is known to find a place in Rahul Dravid’s tour bag.

The sporting Swami has “talked” world billiards champion Geet Sethi out of premature retirement plans and also counselled badminton legend Prakash Padukone. “Worldwide, the sporting fraternity must understand it can’t neglect the most essential part of an athlete’s training — disciplining of the mind,” he points out.

In town on a seminar-discourse tour, while also slipping on the flannels for the Vedanta Academy cricket team in between lectures, the Swami, while talking sports, warned against “obsession about a goal” and “too much anxiety to attain it” that invariably leads to failure. Cases in point: Lendl’s failure to win Wimbledon, Sampras’ inability to master Roland Garros… And more recently, Team India’s meek surrender in the World Cup final at Johannesburg.