The Jabalpur Test Match

Cricket in any form is interesting. But test cricket is something which has a lot of latent learning potential in it. You can draw a lot of inspiration from it and survive in tough conditions. I thought it would be a real good comparison between our profession and in fact our life with Test Cricket! But how to compare? We need a comparator… Don’t you worry; Jabalpur is the one medicine for all sickness!

Nine months in Jabalpur, and you would be surprised to know that test cricket is one thing that keeps me going. So let us try to draw analogy between our jobs and test cricket taking the specific example of Jabalpur and then generalizing it! In mathematics we call this methodology “Principle of Mathematical Induction”!

The Toss
It all starts with the toss. For me, this was similar to exercising my option on the preference of location. “Bangalore” was the call, but “Jabalpur” it was! You cant help it. Toss is a matter of luck. You win some, you lose some. Yeah, you are a bit disgruntled. But you can’t change teams (read “organization”) because you lost the toss. Especially if it is your debut match (read “First Job”). You may be perceived as unprofessional in the industry! You may lose the toss irrespective of the team you are in. The situation worsens if you are asked to open when you are not a specialist in that position. Tough conditions, pumped up opposition, fiery pace bowling… and a lot of sledging! But a better option would be to stick around in the hard conditions, prove your worth and then knock the doors of the “team management” to get the spot you want (read “location / practice / role”)!

Drinks Break
Working causes frustration! That is why drinking is necessary. A drinks break comes once in 15 overs, so take at least drink once in 15 days! It helps you reduce the frustration. That is why people STACK liquor. Once you STACK liquor it initiates a LIFO process (Liquor In Frustration Out!).

Play it session-wise
A test match is not played in one day… A career is not decided in one stint! You have to play it session by session. That too in a career that is going to span for two and a half decades! You might be initially on the back foot in one session. Agreed. You may have lost the session, but you haven’t lost the match. I thought that Jabalpur is like a test match. You have to play it session by session, occupy the crease, and grind the opposition…. All you are looking for is survival. According to me, this applies universally. All one has to do is fight hard for survival, because the longer you survive the more experienced you get and the more you perform. The more you perform, the greater is the respect you earn. By doing the above, as the commentators say often, “You put a price tag on your wicket”! The more experienced you are, the greater is the price on that tag! In other words, people pay you more for a shift later!

Negotiate the New-ball… Cautiously
A new ball is analogous to a new issue. Negotiate it carefully. If you play at it immediately you may fall for it. Remember, there are 3 slips lurking behind your back to catch you at the slightest of the opportunity!

Watch the ball (Issue) carefully. Study it. Play it as little as possible. Let it go to their own keeper. It will come back to you again for sure! Adopt the waiting tactic. Once you understand the issue completely and the ball (issue) is old, you can handle it with greater ease!

The opposition wants you to play an issue when it is in its nascent stage… Don’t!

Playing with the tail
Steve Waugh, Lara, Laxman, Misbah…. Heard these names somewhere? Yeah, they have rescued their teams with an incompetent person batting on the other end. And that is why they are respected! Many times you may find yourself in a similar position. I must thank god that I had great people to work with so far. But batting with the tail pushes you hard. You convert the 1s into 2s and the 3s into 4s! Don’t crib if you have to work with an incompetent person, they are pushing you to greater heights. Moreover competence is a subject matter of the field we are talking about. The tail is supposed to bowl, not bat. If they are on the field batting with you, then it is due to the mistake of the previous batsmen. Those people have a specific role to play and they are much better than many of us in that particular role! Working with incompetent people has a lot of learning in it! I am not trying to justify incompetence, I am trying to look at its positives.

Tea
If you are working as an internal HR in a PSU or you are consulting for a Govt. sector client you need lot of tea breaks! Lot of networking happens over chai and the level of rapport you build through this process is unbelievable. So my sincere advice, drink a lot of chai… chai is next only to whisky when it comes to blending with the client!

2nd Innings
Everyone makes mistakes. So what? Test cricket always gives you a second chance. So does life and career. And one can shine, if only he / she is ready to learn from the mistakes and avoid them!

Patience & Perseverance
Patience is a virtue! There is no doctor who can help a person who lacks patients... Oh sorry… patience! We have to develop it ourselves. Test cricket teaches you that you cannot expect a wicket every ball. One has to be patient and persevere with the line of attack. Eventually you will achieve your objective. That is why it is called “line and length”. Stick to the line of thinking and strive hard, the objectives will be achieved over a length of time!

Declaration
Having said all the above, it is good to adopt the above strategies to balance out the interests of the firm and the individual. But it doesn’t mean that one has to be meek and submissive. If you think you have had enough, you need to declare.

There is no lack of opportunity and you can always explore. There are readily available formats of resume on the internet. All you need to do is a ctrl C, ctrl V. Microsoft did not keep this as the short cut for copy-paste without any reason. Copy – Paste is done widely to prepare a resume… That is why ctrl C – ctrl V contains CV in it. Use it and prepare as many CVs as you want!

But remember, you declare when you think you have had enough and when you are in a very strong position. Ensure that before going for this extreme step!

Moral of the Story
If you are facing a tough situation in life, just look up to test cricket for inspiration to wriggle out of it. As they say quite rightly, Test Cricket separates the Men from the Boys. But I would add to that statement, “It also separates the Women from the Girls”!