Wankhede's first

Here is my fan following report on the India v England, second Twenty20, played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 22nd, 2012

The Mumbai stadium's maiden Twenty20 international was an affair to remember

Choice of game

The Wankhede Stadium was hosting its first Twenty20 international which was also the first India match I was watching live at a ground. The series was set up nicely by India's emphatic win in Pune the day before. If India were to win this match and the next two against Pakistan, they would have become the No. 1 T20 team. My prediction was an India victory since the team had been playing well in the shorter formats. 

Team supported

India.

Key performer

England captain Eoin Morgan has already built a reputation for himself as a dangerous player in the limited-overs formats. He plays the sort of finishing role for England that Michael Bevan used to play for Australia, and now Michael Hussey. 

One thing I'd have changed

I wanted Eoin Morgan's wicket - bowled, caught, run out - off the last ball of match, rather than have to watch him hit it for a six out of the ground. I would have also liked to have seen more of Virat Kohli, given the aggressiveness in his batting and the kind of boundary shots he played. It was a delight to watch him bat in full flow. I could see the attacking intent in his batting from his stance. He certainly looked determined to turn on the heat against England but the innings was unfortunately cut short. 

Face-off I relished

Since several stars were being rested, it was a chance for players like Ashok Dinda, Parwinder Awana and even Yuvraj Singh, who was dropped from the Test side, to cement their places in the side.

Wow moment

Apart from Morgan's last-ball six hit, Yuvraj's three wickets were impressive in the match. When the English openers got going and India couldn't break the stand, the crowd asked for Yuvraj to be given a chance. When he was finally given a bowl, he dismissed Michael Lumb off his second ball. The expectations increased when he came to bowl his second over, and once again he obliged by trapping Luke Wright plumb in front of the wicket. In his final over, he managed to get rid of the dangerous Alex Hales. 

Close encounter

Since my seat was in the North Stand near the sight screen, there was always a fielder present near the boundary rope. We got a close look at Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Wright, Stuart Meaker, Awana, Dinda, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma. Indian fans never miss a chance to call or heckle any fielder who comes to the boundary, and it was sporting of Dernbach and Wright to acknowledge the crowd with smiles. Ashwin gave us a thumbs-up after being welcomed him with "Vanakkam!" which is "hello" in Tamil. The crowd also told Awana that they'd forgive him for dropping a catch if he took a wicket.

Shot of the day

The last-ball six hit by Morgan, which reminded me of the famous Javed Miandad hit in Sharjah in 1986, was the shot of the day. The entire stadium was standing, hoping for a win for India. My colleague was waiting to record the moment on his phone but all he captured was the six out of the park. Last-ball sixes have become a regular feature in cricket since the introduction of T20s. Who can forget Dwayne Smith hitting Ben Hilfenhaus for three sixes in the last over to seal a win for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede earlier this year?

Crowd meter

As the match progressed, the stadium slowly filled up. The only empty stands I saw were near the Vijay Merchant Pavilion side. There were three-to-four-year-old kids dressed in Indian jerseys with faces painted in the Indian tricolor. Their parents hoisted them up on their shoulders and made them cheer for the Indian team. The Mexican wave started early, from the second over the match, and gained momentum as the Indian innings progressed, particularly when Dhoni and Raina were batting in full flow. 

Fancy-dress index

There were the usual colourful Lasith Malinga wigs around, but the best one was from a spectator on the second level of the North Stand who wore the mask of a grumpy old man but was dancing and rejoicing when India were batting. He was cheered by the crowd in his stand and also caught the attention of those in other stands. 

Entertainment

Surprisingly there was no music or mid-innings entertainment, nor were there any cheerleaders, who could have boosted the spirits of the Indian bowlers. We got to see Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Navjot Sidhu, and Sourav Ganguly when they were walking back to their commentary box positions. They got cheers and duly acknowledged them. 

ODIs or Twenty20s

I prefer T20s because the fast-paced action and thrilling moments are packed into three hours like a Hollywood movie. There are enough ups and downs during the three hours to make the experience enjoyable, and like a movie, the match is conveniently played in the evenings.

Banner of the day

"Unleash the Helicopter Shot", "If Dhoni plays well, India sleeps well" and "England, here's the way to the Airport". 

Practice makes you perfect

I reached the stadium almost an hour and a half early, and saw England practising on the field. India came out after some time. I wish they had come out to practise earlier or at the same time as England. I saw a few Indian bowlers practise hitting one stump and wondered whether they could have hit that stump had Alastair Cook been standing in front of it with a bat. 

Marks out of ten

10 for the close finish. The better team won.

Link to the article on ESPNCricinfo's website -

http://www.espncricinfo.com/page2/content/current/story/598329.html

This article about the IPL Twenty20 Cricket Tournament Match between Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Dardevils played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 16th April Evening was first published on ESPNcricinfo Website on April 17, 2012.

No satisfaction in a quickie

What a bummer when a highly anticipated match between two heavyweights turns out to be a dud

Choice of game
Both the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils have a lot of star players, like Sachin Tendulkar, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Richard Levi, Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor. I thought the match would be an exciting contest between two evenly balanced teams, with loads of hitting, fours, sixes and wickets.

Also, this was the first IPL match I watched live in a stadium. I went with 12 friends to make the experience more exciting and enjoyable.


Team supported
Mumbai, because they are my home team.


Key performer
Man of the Match Shahbaz Nadeem, the Daredevils' left-arm spinner, bowled a tight spell opening spell in which he took two wickets and ensured Mumbai never got to a start. Another standout performer was Mumbai captain Harbhajan Singh, for while he was at the crease, it looked like Mumbai would put up a competitive total.


One thing I'd have changed
I'd have played both Tendulkar and Malinga. Mumbai didn't look like the champion team they are supposed to be without their two star players. Tendulkar's presence makes a huge difference to the team and the spectators. Get well soon, Sachin. We want to see you playing for Mumbai in the next match.


Wow moment
The Mexican wave around the stadium was exciting.


Close encounter
For the Daredevils, Morne Morkel and Pietersen fielded near the boundary where I was sitting. And for Mumbai, it was Levi. It is very easy to recognise these tall players even from a distance.
Levi ran to his left and dived to save what looked like a certain boundary from a Sehwag cut shot, keeping it to a single. That was the fielding save of the match.


Shot of the day
Only one shot went skywards in the match, played by Sehwag, and it ended up being a catch at long-on for Levi.


Crowd meter
The stands were packed and the support for Mumbai was excellent. A spectator seated a few rows ahead of me seemed to be enjoying every moment of the match irrespective of which team was doing better. He was blowing on the bugle every now and then and dancing on his seat. He celebrated boundaries as well as wickets, and it was nice to see him enjoy the match that way.


Entertainment
The DJ tried to cheer up Mumbai and boost their morale by playing "Yahan Ke Hum Sikander" from the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
During the mid-innings break, some fans got the opportunity to take catches off Mumbai batsmen and to keep the ball they caught.


ODIs or Twenty20s
I prefer Twenty20s because the game is completed in three hours, unlike ODIs and Tests which occupy your whole day. You can watch a T20 after office hours, and thus enjoy a good evening out too. And there is entertainment guaranteed in T20 via hits to the fence.


Banner of the day
There was a banner that looked like a dartboard. It said a prize of Rs10,000 will be given to anyone who hits the target. It was probably an incentive offered to Mumbai's batsmen to go out and play their shots and hit the target. But unfortunately, that didn't happen.


TV v stadium
I'd recommend watching in stadium any time, especially if you go with a big group of people. You cannot relive the excitement, the buzz around the ground, the energy, the crowd's enthusiasm, the wacky humour associated with a certain player or a team if you are watching the match on TV. A three-hour match in a packed stadium is as good as watching a blockbuster movie in a theatre.


The low-scorers
It's probably too early to judge, but after this match I recalled the words of IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla before the tournament. He said the fifth season of the IPL was probably going to be the best so far because the governing council had instructed stadium curators to prepare 160-run pitches so that the crowds will get entertained by all the fours and sixes. Perhaps the curators are sending him a message to not tell them what to do.


Marks out of 10
6, mainly because of the experience of watching the match live in a stadium. I would have scored it better had the match been more competitive, had Mumbai scored more runs, and had Sachin and Malinga played.

Career Chase

This is my second article for career guide magazine

Today, we have to and must to do for ourselves that which in the previous decades was determined by our family upbringing, culture, tradition & values. Gone are the days of taking up responsibility of father’s family business, job security and a settled defined and routine life. Gone are the days of one life equals one career. Today we have to do everything on our own; we have to come up with our own system to seek meaning and make sense of our lives. The sooner we do it, the better. In my experience, every one of us will pass through this stage once in their life. How we deal with it and come out of it will determine the road ahead in our life – more meaningful with plenty of success.

I suggest the following steps to be followed properly with care and diligence to avoid facing such a scenario midway in one’s life thus also empowering one to deal & handle it better:-

1. There is no such thing as the good old days. Things are changing everyday. They are becoming more different and complex. There is no quick fix solution to a problem. New ways of understanding the roots of change have to be developed. We have to look for new forms of work and new approaches for self – help, and invent new services. We have to train ourselves and be ready for the future. The key to thriving in today’s world at any age is learning, unlearning and relearning. Learning “new tricks” is a continuous process for people who are open to new ideas and who welcome opportunities to grow and change. They engage in genuine self – renewal and growth; develop flexibility. One has to learn to be more independent and resourceful.

2. In today’s age there is no conclusive evidence that people who make the most money are happier or feel better about themselves. There is no direct correlation between career success, happiness, and high self-esteem with status, money, and upward mobility. Finding one’s meaning and mission may be the most critical step to happiness, however we define it. Mission, not money, motivates: Only purpose fights our fear of nothingness.

3. You are in charge of your career. No one is coming to rescue your career but you! If you are not in charge, no one is! If you don’t know what you want or need for your success, no one does. If you don’t have this wisdom, acquire it. This is what career planning is all about.

4. To assure career satisfaction, select your career based on what fits your individual skills, interests, motivations, and values, and balance these with projected opportunities. Never base a career selection solely on the anticipated job market. If it isn’t a match for you, success will be difficult for you to achieve and maintain, and you may never be able to value your success or translate it into high self-esteem.

5. Superior performance will be automatically recognized and rewarded. It holds true in the long run, but it also requires a lot of patience, persistence, determination, dedication, honesty and hard work. The final fruits of labor are sweet, but it takes time. Don’t seek instant gratification. Be willing to be disappointed once in a while. Don’t be disheartened if you feel that you did not get the praise or recognition you deserved. The best qualified people do not necessarily get the best jobs or the most money unless they have a keen awareness of how these things happen in their workplace.

6. The road to success is checkered with failures, false starts, and frequently grave mistakes. Addiction to perfectionism and fear of failure are deadly dictums to career success and creativity. If you spend most of your psychic energy concentrating on your weaknesses, you will neglect your strengths. You need to know your strengths – what you do well naturally – and focus on taking these skills to their highest level. The myth that successful people make no mistakes is highly incorrect. You will never learn, if you do not make mistakes.

7. Success in both personal and career life is a juggling act. To do this successfully we must identify, choose, and attend to our top priorities. Never sacrifice your private life for professional success for it may then not last long. There has to be an equal balance between both. That is the real challenge.

Conclusion: Understanding these above – mentioned points and reinforcing them time and again would enable the discerning reader to gain better control over one’s career.

Success in a new job

This is the second in my series of articles related to the Career field that I have written for "Career Guide" Magazine.

The following steps are keys to boost your self-esteem and self-confidence in your professional pursuits.

1. Upgrade your own - professional self: If you are currently employed, seek ways to continuously grow yourself by enhancing your knowledge, skills, and abilities. Identify competency gaps and fill them by taking short-term certificate courses or professional training programmes. There are plenty of them available today here in India from global training institutes like Dale Carnegie, Franklin Covey, Middle Earth Consultants to name a few, and other educational institutions like NIIT, Hughes - DWGE. If you feel paucity for time, go for online learning mode that can be done from the comfort of your home or office with the aid of a Desktop PC & Internet Connection. The Internet is a very powerful medium for education. Identify mentors. Approach them. Do what they do, think the affirming thoughts they think, and feel what they feel.

2. Manage your emotions: Strive to create and manage those emotions that you desire – from being energized to being joyful, resourceful, confident, open, dynamic, bold, creative, innovative, and even wise. For example, visualize an event or a time in your life which captures that emotion you want to recreate easily like feeling confident. Concentrate on a specific scene in which you were confident and zoom in on what you were doing, how you were moving and talking, gesturing, laughing, and smiling. As you recapture those empowered feelings, you can feel confident any time you choose. Learning how to manage your emotions daily can play a significant role in your professional career & personal satisfaction in life. It can also contribute to your growth as a superior manager as you move up the hierarchy in your organization.

3. Change how you think about things: How you attach to things will significantly influence how you feel about them. If you view something that has happened to you as incredibly unfair, then you will feel victimized and unjust about it. But if you view it as a learning experience, you will see opportunity for significant gain. It is perfectly fine to make a mistake as long as there is a significantly learning derived out of it so as not to repeat it the next time around. The next time you are placed off better when faced with a similar scenario. Experiences can be powerful learning tools for growth in one’s own personal & professional life depending on how you welcome them and perceive them to be. Success is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is the result of experience. Experience is often the result of bad judgment. Hence, we must keep at it. If we keep striving to make things better and we learn from our “mistakes”, then we will succeed.

4. Identify and focus on your desired outcome: Determine what you want and need in your life and your career in specific terms. Goals such as wanting a better job, more money, less hassles, reduced stress are too general. Specific goals enable you to focus on the outcome. Once finely focused, your goals mobilize into action. Pursue goals worthy of your efforts. Pursue goals that challenge you to be the best you can be and provide a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment when you achieve them. Set goals and determine outcomes. Make a map of the roads you want to travel in your life. Figure out where you want to go and how you are going to get there. Be specific. The more detailed you are, the more empowered you are to create a result.

5. Become committed to your success: The greater your commitment, the greater will be your resolve to let nothing stand in your way. The extent to which you are committed to your success is the extent to which you will achieve it. The key to success is to decide what’s most important to you and then take massive action each day to make it better, even when it doesn’t look as if it’s working. Be persistent in taking action: Every time you do something, you learn from it, and you find a way to do it better next time. No problem affects ones entire life, even though it may look like right now. Do not be shut down by fear of failure, follow the advice of the Nike Ad & Just do it.

6. Identify those individuals whom your function impacts and meet them: Get to know their needs, interests, and motivations. Learn about their roles and responsibilities. It is critical to your own success that you know what works for your colleagues.

7. Gain support and endorsement of others: Involve your superiors, peers and subordinates in your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and intentions by informing to them. If you ask for their input, most people are pleased to support you. Involvement fosters commitment.

8. Take care of the company and the company will take care of you: Bring to the job a sense of urgency about the task at hand. Your future will basically rest with your performance reputation established within the first few months on the job. Don’t be apolitical. Refuse to discuss personalities or to take sides.

9. Know the Business: Know more about your business and company than you need to know. Ask about new products or new projects or programs. Learn how the company operates and become known to as many people as you can.

10. Regularly review your own performance: Measure performance. Review monthly what you have done. Measure your performance against your own goals. Be tough on yourself. Expect results, not perfection.

11. Be alert and moving all the time: Keep things moving. Do not sit on yesterday’s successes. Everything that you do will have a direct positive or negative impact on the bottom line. Prudence dictates better performance.

Believe in yourself and deem yourself to be worthy, if you are committed to your success and trust your skills, you will find the strength and courage to go on.

My viewpoints on what makes an excellent workplace

The Cover Story was "GOOD PLACES TO WORK" in Business Manager Magazine. The following were my responses based on my experiences.

1. What are the ingredients for making excellent work place from employers as well as employess point of view?

My answer is that the employer must seek to attain & retain the best possible talent through various sources. There must regular upgradation of one's skills through Training & Developmental Activities. Employees look at the benefits that they are going to get in return for the amount of time they spend in Office. And mind you, it is not just Monetary Benefits. They look at the Workplace, its Culture, Atmosphere, Environment, Housekeeping, Reputation in the market, with the Customers, HR Policies, Career Growth Advancement, etc...

2. What is the role of HR in this process.

The HR must be highly competent, must have be able to make things happen, must be able to motivate people, must have rewards & recognition programmes in place, must encourage & appreciate people wherever due, salary benefits must match with the best in the market competition, employees must be regular appraised, there must be an internal HR Newsletter,

3. What are the impediments in making excellent work place?

The impediments could be people who are opposed to change, who are used to routine because change causes them stress to them, people who view investment on employees as an expense rather than a ROI.

My Viewpoints on Attrition in an Organization

These are some of my own viewpoints on the Issues of "Attrition in an organization" that was accepted & published in Business Manager Magazine

1) What do you identify as major reasons for attrition ?

Most of the times, it is the work culture & the environment. Money is also an important factor, but there are people who would like to be loyal to the company & are emotionally attached to their workplace. But if the work culture is not conducive or promotive, then the feeling of resentment creeps in, it is like within the family & thus people leave.

Another one of the reasons could be internal politics by senior members who do not want their juniors to grow. By creating stumbling blocks for the juniors, they make them want to leave & this way their objective of not letting the company grow is achieved. Seniors often do not want the juniors to grow. People also look at the benefits they are getting back from the company in lieu of the efforts put in by them. If that is found to be not satisfactory, then they leave. Unfriendly HR policies is also another reason like refusal of leave, salary - cutting for no logical reason delay in reimbursements, etc... I guess that that in today's scenario, the old adage of Boss - Worker concept is gone. People should no longer be treated as workers who are being paid for the work they do. Everyone wants to feel to be a part of the company, I am talking of ownership, Salary is something which one gets in return for the services rendered by the person to the organization. The labour concept is outdated today. Hence, if some company is still following that culture, then that could be another one of the reasons why people leave. People also leave for lack of career - growth opportunities.

Another reason could also be the the attitude of the top management towards not taking any action or showing some worry for the employee's leaving the organization. They only look at the top - line, they only look at how much money / business is coming in & hence till the time it is not affected, they feel that people may come & people may go, but i will go on forever. This is not valid in today's scenario. In such cases, also a person will leave where he feels that his contribution is not valued. People want to be felt as a part of the contributing team, one person alone must take all the credit.

2) What can be the possible strategies to combat attrition ?

I would highly recommend a strong HR Friendly Policies. Apart from that there should be regular increments of wages. It should be totally unbiased & based strongly on performance only. There must be rewards & recognition schemes to boost employee morale & productivity. Employees need to be kept motivated & engaged all the times. No work is impossible when the employee is motivated & highly enthusiastic. Internal HR Branding, that is of promoting the organization as an avenue for growth & reasons to stick around is another strategy that can be adopted.

3) Any HR practice you adopted in your organization which really helped you to reduce attrition rate?

The company has introduced Performance Linked Incentives Policies as a strategy to combat the high rate of attrition & to be able to retain employees from joining the competition. There is also a regular Performance Appraisal System in place with annual increments.

4) Any long term solution to increase stability of employee in the organization?

Employees must feel that they are a part of the company & the people must also grow alongwith the company, otherwise nobody will stick around.

How to put your career on the fast track

1. Choose the job or career with great care, attention & detail – The choice of a job or occupation for which you are ideally suited for comes over and above anything else. Choose it with great care, attention & detail. Do plenty of research on it. Speak to your friends, professors, do research over the internet, and take professional career guidance where necessary. Planning is a must. Otherwise, if you to try work at something that you do not enjoy or believe in, but took it up as it came your way, then you will neither be happy nor satisfied with it, both personally and professionally, and hence will never be successful. Choose the work carefully after thorough research & planning and if you don’t love what you are doing currently, get out of it! Working at something that you don’t care about is the best way to waste your time in life.

2. Become excellent at what you want to do – You have to pay any price, go any distance and spend as much amount of time necessary to be the best that you can be. Extraordinary results call for extraordinary performance and only those who are willing to strive towards that extra mile attain them. You must strive to increase your worth and value in order to earn more. Overall, you must be able to enjoy your work. Approach your work with zest and enthusiasm; observe what a difference it will make over a period of time.

3. Work at the right place and with the right boss – A ‘people’ organization is characterized by 3 things – commitment, teamwork & human touch. The right company is the one that respects its people and pays for its performance. The right company is dynamic, open to new ideas, provides a competitive and challenging atmosphere in the right spirit and is full of opportunities for people who are ambitious and want to grow in life.
   
   Much of your happiness and satisfaction in job will depend upon your relationship with the immediate superiors. If you cannot get along, then make every effort to resolve it at the earliest, if it is a big organization, get transferred to another department and if you still can’t do anything about it, just walk away.
   
   Enjoy working with people. Our co-workers are very important to us. Develop pleasant, congenial & fun-loving relationships.
   
   Choosing the right work, the right place and the right people to do it with is laying the foundation for career success.

4. Develop good work habits – Develop a reputation for quality work, speed and dependability and you will immediately stand out from the majority. These qualities are the benchmark in a person for promotion. This is also the fastest way to get noticed and bring yourself to the attention of the superior.
   
   Be straight with everyone. Don’t be dishonest or lie about something that was never meant to be. There are always many reasons or excuses to compromise. You may reason that people are not ready to hear the truth or bad news. It is these rationalizations that usually lead to unethical conduct and eventually backfire.
   
   
   Be dedicated to the end result, the output, not how you get to it or whose idea it is or whether it looks good or not. Respect the work of all those who respect their own work.

5. Keep learning – Become devoted to lifelong learning. The most successful and fulfilled people are those who think the best thoughts. We can only act on what we know. And when we know better, we can choose better. Subscribe to book libraries, book summaries, build your own collection, become a committed audio-tape user, Listen to these materials on way to work, make the best use of traveling time, Learn and continually expand one’s own mind and its vast potential.
   
   To earn more, one must learn more and thus keep on growing continuously. The outer world of results will always correspond to the inner world of preparation.

6. Cultivate good relationships with others – Holding constant for knowledge, skill, luck and intelligence, your success will be in direct proportion to the number of people known. The network of contacts and relationships developed with people over a period of time will work more for your own career than any other factor. Become a member of a professional organization. Get involved with community affairs. Network. Socialize. Build lifelong relationships & invaluable contacts.
   
   Eventually, it is they who will assist you when you are seeking a change or moving up the career path. They will also stand by you in periods of difficulty, when undergoing a period of career transition or job rotation. Knowledge & experience sharing in such moments is invaluable to help transit through without any hindrances.

7. Celebrate achievements – Celebrating small successes supplants the long – term drive towards reaching a major result. When one small step or goal is achieved, celebrate it. Train the mind to recognize success at each and every step achieved towards a major long – term goal.