Wordsbykenaniah

In this blog I would like to talk about a common problem that most of us face either knowingly or unknowingly. The problem that I’m talking about is when we try to do too many things at once and not put proper effort and focus on any of those things. In the process of trying to be the jack of all trades, we often forget to be the master of one. In the process of trying to be great in a lot of things, we half-ass most of our work. Although this may not seem like a big deal for most people, we’ve got to dive deeper into this subject to have a clear understanding of what’s going wrong. All of us have goals and ambitions in life, and we would probably give up anything in the world to achieve them. Having the habit of setting a goal or an ambition is a great thing to do, but what’s really important is to have a PLAN. What do I mean by this? A goal without action is useless. So, to be able to work on your goal, you’ve got to have a plan on how you approach the process. You’ve got to be able to look at reaching your goal as a process. And one of the best lessons that the process will teach you is that you have to take it one day at a time. You cannot expect yourself to complete the journey in a single day. We all have heard the old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, a saying which emphasizes the fact that it takes time to build great things. The problem with most people is that when they try to build something as great as that, they always have a mental picture of what the final output may look like and try to focus on different things that make up the output. A better option, however, would be to create a step by step process with a clear analysis, and focus on one step a day. The idea is to implement that step as perfectly as possible, and to dedicate all your focus and energy towards it. And by doing so, we would be able to complete each step as perfectly as we can, which will lead to a perfect output. Let me tell you about a lesson that I learnt from the star of blockbuster movies like Bad Boys and Men in Black, actor Will Smith. One of his main philosophies in life is that you don’t have to think about building a wall on the very first day. Instead, your goal should be to lay one brick, and to lay that brick as perfectly as possible. You should dedicate all your time and energy into laying that brick and focus on the process as much as possible. And if you do this on a daily basis, soon you will have a wall. A wall in which each of its bricks are laid with perfection. What a wonderful way to approach our goals ! The process of taking one step at a time can teach us a lot of valuable lessons in life. One of the lessons is that if you spend time and effort on a regular basis(and by time and effort I mean the hours you spend focusing and not spending), any goal is achievable. Any goal can be made possible with this approach. It is not the height of the mountain that is stopping you from scaling it, it is the inability to find the steps. This process is not only for achieving your goals, but this can also be used to break you bad habits. Now imagine that you have a bad habit and you’ve been stuck with for a while. Is it possible for you to wake up one day and just quit that habit and move on ? Absolutely not. If quitting a habit was that easy, we wouldn’t be having a lot of addicts in this world. The best way for you to approach this problem is to work on it little by little and rely on your marginal improvements. When you carry on with those marginal improvements on a regular basis, you can make a tremendous change over a longer period of time. The concept of marginal improvements is a wonderful thing to learn about. Atomic Habits by James Clear is one of the best books I’ve ever read. One of the many interesting topics that he talks about in the book is how marginal improvements can have a big impact in our lives when it is paired up with consistency. How much value do you think 1% of anything would mean to you? Not much right ? But the author says, even though 1% is not a large number, if you add it up for every single day, you can have a lot. He says, if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. 1% improvement may not seem like a lot to us, sometimes it may seem completely unnoticeable too, but such is the beauty of life, that even when such minor changes are made with regularity, it results in big changes. Talking about marginal improvements, I would like to give you another great example, an example that Stephen Duneier gave during one of his Ted Talks(you can look it up on youtube). He was talking about the career of Novak Djokovic, who is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. If you look at his career and see the level of growth that he has had throughout the years, you would wonder how hard he would have worked to do that. That’s completely true. He’s an extremely hard-working and dedicated person. But when you break down his success and analyze it, you will know that the marginal improvements that he has made has helped him win a lot more matches.

Take a look at the picture above. I want you to focus on the %of points won and look at how he has made marginal improvements throughout the years. From 49% in 04-05, he has improved to 52% in 06-10 and to 55% in 11-16. With marginal improvements like that, he has been able to move from being 100+ in the world to being the best player in the world. Focusing on winning a grand slam might look like a big deal, but when he breaks it down to the points he wins, it all comes down to small improvements, and when he works on that everyday, he becomes a great player. I was also talking about the importance of taking one step at a time, and only when you do that, you would be able to have these improvements.

There are a lot of reasons why people try to juggle too many balls at once. Here are some of the reasons:

*Lack of patience

Though it’s much easier said than done, having patience is one of the most important things in life. The lack of patience affects us in a lot of ways, one of those ways is it doesn’t keep our minds steady. In the pursuit of greatness, we tend to force our minds to work a lot of things at once, and we often fail to understand that it takes time to achieve great things in life. We focus on being successful in different areas, and we want that success to happen overnight. We watch motivational videos of great people, and try to replicate the things that took them years to achieve, in a few weeks or so. The best way to achieve you biggest dreams is to take one step at a time, and to do that, you need a lot of patience. The results don’t come in a day, they are the compound interest of our day to day work.

*They don’t understand the importance of consistency

People often underestimate what we could do in a month and over-estimate what we could do in a day. The problem with most people is that they don’t see how much better they can be if they work on it every single day. As talked about earlier, all it takes is 1% improvement a day for you to be 37 times better by the end of the year. We have to know that hard work without consistency is NOT hard work. The people who fail to understand this are the ones that pile up their work for a day or two and fail to focus on the other days. People wouldn’t be putting too much pressure on themselves if they know that they’d have to do lesser work when they have consistency.

*They don’t understand the importance of focus

We should not calculate the amount of work we’ve done with the hours that we have spent working, instead it should be the hours that we focused on the work. There is a big difference between spending time on something and focusing on something. To achieve great things in life, and to be world class in whatever you do, you need to be razor sharp with your focus. You’ve got to eliminate all the distractions and dedicate your mind to the process. When you take one step at a time, it becomes much easier for you to focus on the things that you do, hence, the desired results will be achieved.

Thankyou for reading this post. I hope you liked it. For more such content, like this post and follow this page.

Today is the 27th of January 2022, and as all tennis fans do in the first month of the year, I’ve been enjoying the Australian open everyday. The reason I specified today’s date is because it is the eve of one of the most spectacular days of the season, the semi finals day. Usually, the games happen one day apart, but this time, we’ve got both the games on the same day. The first game is between Rafael Nadal and Mateo Berrettini, which is scheduled for a 9am(IST) kick-off, and the second game is between Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas which is scheduled at 2:00pm(IST). Before getting into the semi final clashes, I want to talk about the whole tournament in general. The tour began with a shocking news, as the 9 time champion and world number 1 Novak Djokovic was deported for violation of covid-19 protocols. I was predicting that Novak was gonna win this grand slam and and become the first player to win 21 titles, but what happened to him was highly unfortunate. With the world No.1 out of the title race, the door was now wide open for all the other amazing talents. In a way, I feel that Novak’s absence is good thing because if he had been playing, the he would be the obvious winner, because…….. C’mon man…..He’s Novak…Arguably the greatest hard-court player ever. Things felt a lot more interesting this time, and the fans were ready. Some of the players that I was looking forward to watching were Rafa, Medvedev and Zverev; Rafa is my favorite player of all time and the other two are my favorites from the new gen. This might sound cliched, but I felt like the level of competition has been incredibly high this year. The kind of tennis that the next gen players are producing is unbelievable! Here are some of the things that I love about the younger generation:

1. Their high level of athleticism

I’ve always felt that tennis is one of the hardest sports to play. I’m saying this only from the viewers perspective because I’ve never picked up a tennis racquet in my life(I would love to, but have never gotten the chance). I’ve played a lot of cricket, badminton and football, and I feel like tennis requires a lot more from a player than the rest(except for football). So, from a fan’s point of view, the way the players are able to play the long hours, cover so much ground and maintain their stamina is amazing to watch. What astonishes me is the fact that these players approach the fifth of the match set with the same level of energy they had in the first! Their ability to cover all ends of the court is what I find special in the next gen. I’ve looked at so many long rallies and went crazy! Like…how is he able to run back and forth so easily? How is he able to stretch so far out!? I usually have those reactions while watching Novak play, but the next gen is now slowly coming up, and I’m loving it.

2. The speed and accuracy in their serves

This is another point that I would like to emphasize. Most of these younger players are incredible servers. I always used to wonder, What do you do when the ball is coming at you like a bullet? Not much! And as we all know, speed without accuracy is useless. But when you add speed with a perfect aim, you’ve got a dangerous weapon. I was watching the Nadal vs Shapovalov match the other day(the quarterfinals), and I was amazed by the confidence by which the youngster was serving, especially in the decider. Ace after Ace after Ace, Nadal was barely moving on the other side. There are a lot of players who’ve got a strong serve; Medvedev, Kyrgios, Berrettini are some of the examples. Now you know why they ace every test that is put in front of them 😜

3. Their Never give up attitude

We’ve seen a lot of five setters, we’ve seen a lot of games going on for a long time and we’ve seen players toil relentlessly for hours. These players never give up under any circumstance. Even if the odds are against them, the still keep fighting for it and they still manage to find a way. When I say the words ‘never give up’, the first person that comes to mind is Rafa Nadal. Growing up, I used to watch a lot of his games, and I became a big fan of his attitude and his passion for the game. Doesn’t matter what kind of a situation he is in, you can never count him out because he always gives a 110%. That is what makes him great. In his recent quarter final clash against Shapavalov, when both the players were at two sets a piece, Rafa seemed to have a discomfort with his stomach, and looked like he done and dusted. Shapavalov made full use of this capitalized on the oppurtunity. From two sets to love down, he made it two sets all. It was now a do or die situation for Rafa. But despite the loss of momentum and painful injury, he kept on fighting till the end, and went on to win the match. This is one of the many examples from his historic career. People like him are an inspiration to the younger generation, and you can see that the players are learning from the greats. They are relentless in their pursuit of greatness. If you watched Medvedev’s performance last night, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Now let me come back to the semi final clash. First match is between Rafa and Berrettini. The wisdom of experience vs the exuberance of youth. Rafa’s experience in these type of situations will be his strength. And as I said earlier, he’s gonna fight with everything he’s got. And as far as Berrettini is concerned, his serve is a big plus for him. I saw Rafa struggle a little with strong serves in the last few matches, so if the Italian could keep hitting those perfect serves often, he could pose a threat. And the more unforced errors he makes, better are his chances.

The next game is between the Greek freak and the Russian warrior- Tsitsipas and Medvedev. Tsitsipas’ gameplay was impeccable in the quarters. If he could bring that same fire to the quarters, he’ll go home with the victory. Medvedev, on the other hand, is a warrior. He’s been the best player in the tournament in my opinion, and has already proven that he can deliver in the big nights. I’m pretty sure this is going to be a heck of a contest.

I’m not a big fan of making predictions. So let’s wait and watch. Thanks for reading. means a lot to me 😊✌

In Proverbs 23:7, the Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”. The author emphasizes the importance of thought in our day to day lives through this beautiful verse. This is where the title of this book is inspired from. ‘As a man thinketh’ is one of the many self help books written by James Allen, and it is considered by many as one of the best self help books of all time. This book, as he describes it, is the one that will help you to help yourself and describe the way our thoughts impact our lives. We often hear people talk about taking the right action at the right time and stating that our actions are the primary reasons for our successes and failures. But that’s not all. Our mindset is as important as our actions and should be given equal importance to. Here is one of the questions asked to the boxing legend Mike Tyson in a recent interview – “At what point in your life did you think you could be a world champ?”, he was asked. Mike replied, “When I was 14 years old. You’ve got to think like a champion before you become a champion”. That answer gave me goosebumps! A person who is filled with negative thoughts can never see a positive outcome. In my opinion, the first step is always to believe you can, and then put in the work to prove it. Our minds have the power to dictate our lives, and this book shows you the different ways that it can.

“As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills” – James Allen

This book is just slightly over a 100 pages long, but the knowledge you gain is vast. I suggest all of you who read this to purchase this book and have a read. Trust me, this will be extremely useful to you.

Let’s jump right into it. The author has categorized this book into 7 chapters:

1) Thought and character

2) Effect of thought on circumstances

3) Effect of thought on health and the Body

4) Thought and Purpose

5) The thought factor in achievement

6) Visions and Ideals

7) Serenity

Each chapter shows us the different ways in which our thought process impacts our lifestyle. The author teaches us that our characters are a complete sum of our thoughts, and our lives are quite literally what we think it is. He tells us that our thoughts are like seeds that spring forth into circumstances. We’ve got to understand that our circumstances are the result of the type of seeds that we plant in our minds over a period of time, and as we are always taught, we can only reap what we sow, nothing different. Two men go through the same road of struggle, one man ends up building a great character while the other succumbs to the pressure. One man looked at the hope in the future while the other wept over the present. Two different people, placed under the same circumstance, reaped two different rewards because of the seeds they decided to plant. The road that life takes you through may be unpredictable but the seed you decide to plant within yourself is something under your control. We are all gardeners of our lives and our mind is the garden. So what does a gardener do ? He cultivates his plot, keeping it from weeds and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires. Similarly, a man has to cultivate the garden of his mind, weeding out all the impure thoughts and work toward cultivating the right, useful and pure thoughts. The author also compares our minds to a home; we cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless we admit the air and sunshine freely into our rooms; meaning, happiness can only exist if we let the thoughts of joy and goodwill inside. Our thoughts also play a major role in our achievements. As the author so beautifully puts it, “All achievements, whether in business, intellectual or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought”. People who achieve a great amount of success are not only hard workers but are also exceptional and unique thinkers. In fact, the biggest difference between a person who is ‘good’ and a person who is ‘great’ is their mindset. As we strive for success, we also ought to cherish a beautiful vison for our lives. The vision that have is the promise of what we shall be one day. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s life serves as an inspiration for millions of people all over the world. He constantly talks about the importance of having a vision in life. His vision, as he says, is what motivated him to work as hard as he can on a consistent basis.

I find this book to be the perfect example of ‘quality over quantity’, because I’m amazed by how the author was able to convey so much using so little ! Here are some of the lessons I learnt from this book :

1. You are the master of your fate

The author says that our mind is a tool, a man can either build himself with the help of this tool or destroy himself with the same. By the right choice and true application of thought, man can create for himself a beautiful life. Man holds the key to every situation in life and has the power to make himself what he wills.

2) Thoughts shape your circumstances

A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances. Thoughts of self-reliance, courage and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty and freedom.

3) Your mind determines your health

The author suggests that good thoughts are just as important as good food to maintain a healthy life. He believes that when a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food. Clean thoughts make clean habits.

4) Eliminate doubt and fear

Doubt and fear are the great enemies of success. The first step to success is to have the belief that you can succeed. As confucius said, “He who says he can, and he who says he can’t, are both usually right”.

5) Dreams beget realities

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. You will build your life by the vision that you glorify in you mind.

6) Calmness of mind is a jewel of wisdom

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, his power for good…. The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.

These are some of the great lessons that I learned from this book. Overall, I would rate this book a solid 4/5. You might feel that some of the words are hard to understand (ecspecially if you are not too strong with the language), because some parts of this book is written in a poetic form, otherwise, it is a great read, and I would recommend you to try it out.

Thankyou for reading my blogpost ! Hope you liked it

What are the benefits of reading ? Why do most successful leaders and entrepreneurs suggest us to have the habit of reading everyday ? These are the questions that I was asking myself during the early days of 2021, around that time of the year where we have a lot of resolutions and changes to make in our lives. 2021 was the year when I picked up the habit of reading. To be very honest, I soon realized that I was not a big fan of it, and I had to force myself everyday to stick to the resolution. Before I tell you about how I broke that feeling, let me first tell you about how I started the habit. One of the things that I love to do in my free time is to analyze the lives of extremely successful people from all walks of life. The goal is to not focus on ‘what’ they do but ‘how’ they do it, and understand the fundamental rules for success and apply the same to my life. When you look at the lives of these people you can find a lot of common factors in them, things like hard work, dedication, sacrifice, a great work ethic etc. One of the things that I found interesting about them is the habit of reading. More than 90% of the people I read about or watched documentaries about had the habit of reading and they always stressed on the fact that it improved their lives in numerous ways. I realized that just as how exercise is important to build physical strength, reading is important for the strengthening of our minds. This is how my reading journey began. As I stated earlier, it was not off to a great start. The first book that I ever bought was ‘Oliver Twist’, a novel written by Charles Dickens in the year 1837(publishing year). I don’t mean to offend the writer or his legacy, but this book was not for me, I found it so hard to continue with the habit and soon had to put a full stop. That was it. I was done with reading. I said to myself that reading was not my thing. I decided to never waste money on a book again. All this was until I heard about Mr. Tim Grover and his book ‘Relentless’. As I told you earlier, I was always spending my time learning from successful people and one day, I came across a youtube video in which I learnt about Tim Grover and his journey. In short, Mr. Grover is an athletic trainer who works closely with professional athletes, and helps them to be in the best shape possible. He is well known for his work with the legendary Michael Jordan, with whom he worked for 15 years, and also some other legends like Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade etc. I watched the whole video in a stretch(it was a long ass video btw) and he was being interviewed about his book and all the great achievements of his life. As soon as I finished that video, I decided to buy that book and start reading again. I didn’t know if I would like it or not, but I wanted to give it a try. Unlike the first one, I loved this book from the start. To dive deeper into the lives of some of the most prolific athletes was a great experience for me. And again, no offence to Charles Dickens, but fiction is just not my thing.

So basically, the book ‘Relentless’ teaches you the importance of mental toughness and steely focus in our day to day lives. It teaches you some of the key factors which separate the good from the greats and the sheep from the GOATs. The thing I love the most about this book is that once you’ve finished reading it you will know exactly what it takes to reach the top 1% of the world, and hence you will understand that even though the lives of such people may look flashy from the outside, it takes a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication to stay at that level. Throughout this book, Grover categorizes people into 3 different groups – Coolers, Closers and Cleaners, meaning Good, Great and Unstoppable people. Here are three paragraphs from the book that will help you understand the cooler, closer and cleaner concept.

“A Cooler is careful; he waits to be told what to do, watches to see what everyone else is doing, and then follows the leader. He can handle a certain amount of pressure when things are going well, but when things get too intense, he kicks the problem to someone else. He can’t make a huge play. He’s the setup guy, keeping things cool until the closer or the cleaner can take over”

“A closer can handle a lot of pressure, he’ll get the job done if you put him in the right situation and tell him exactly what you need him to do. He’ll study all sorts of scenarios so he can anticipate what might happen, but he’s uncomfortable when faced with something unexpected. He loves the rewards and perks associated with his fame and would choose financial security over winning or success.”

And here is what separates the Cleaner from the other two :

. Coolers have an amazing game.

. Closers have an amazing season.

. Cleaners have amazing careers.

. Coolers worry about the competition and how they measure up.

. Closers study the competition and plan their attack based on the opponent.

. Cleaners make the competition study them; they don’t care whom they’re facing, they know they can handle anyone.

. Coolers let others decide whether they’re successful; they do the job and wait to see if you approve.

. Closers feel successful when they get the job done.

. Cleaners never feel as if they’ve achieved success because there’s always more to do.

When you read all of the points given above and analyze your own life or the people around you, you will realize that most of the people are either coolers or closers and it is extremely rare to find a cleaner. That’s what makes the cleaner who he/she is. They are a rare commodity. There is only one Michael Jordan, one Tiger Woods, one Elon Musk and one Mike Tyson because it takes a lot to be in the same category as these people. People often use the word ‘Talent’ when we talk about how great a person is. But to be the best at what you do, it takes a lot more than just talent; it takes a high level of skill. Talent is what you have naturally, but when you work on your talent and master your craft, that is called skill. I once heard Will Smith say in an interview, “Talent wise I’m an average person, but where I excel is in the ridiculous, sickening work ethic”. Notice the words ‘ridiculous’ and ‘sickening’, there is certain level of obsession inside a cleaner, that’s what they call a healthy obsession. So what else does a cleaner have within himself ? The author has written this book based on a system called as ‘The Relentless 13’, which consists of 13 things that you do when you are a cleaner. All thirteen of them are of equal importance, therefore the author has not numbered them individually, all of them are numbered as #1, and I’m gonna do the same.

The Relentless 13 :

When you’re a cleaner…..

#1 You keep pushing yourself harder when everyone else has had enough.

#1 You get into the zone, you shut out everything else, and control the uncontrollable.

#1 You know exactly who you are.

#1 You have a dark side that refuses to be taught to be good.

#1 You’re not intimidated by pressure, you thrive on it.

#1 When everyone is hitting the “In case of emergency” button, they’re all looking for you.

#1 You don’t compete with anyone, you find your opponent’s weakness and you attack.

#1 You make decisions, not suggestions; you know the answer while everyone else is still asking questions.

#1 You don’t have to love the work, but you’re addicted to the results.

#1 You’d rather be feared than liked.

#1 You trust very few people, and those you trust better never let you down.

#1 You don’t recognize failure; you know there is more than one way to get what you want.

#1 You don’t celebrate you achievements because you always want more.

These are the 13 things that comprises a cleaner. If you could relate to these characteristics, you are on the right track. Keep going. But if not, you can always work on it. Start by reading this masterpiece, and you’ll understand the importance of having a cleaner mindset. You will understand how you can relate these 13 characteristics to some of the most successful people in the world, and that will give you the motivation to strive for greatness. I’d definitely rate this book a 5/5. It is a must read.

” This book will do for you what Tim has done for me – take you to the next level and show you how to be the best at whatever you do. I have unbelievable trust and faith in him” – Dwayne Wade.

Winning a crucial game is never an easy thing to do. No matter the sport, talent and ability alone cannot help a team or a player to shine under pressure. Pressure can either bring out the best or the worst out of a person, and it does not have to be the same way all the time. The way a player handles pressure is one of the things that make him/her great in what they do, because not all players handle it efficiently.

With that being said, the reason behind this post is to talk about the two types of batsmen who are vital for a teams victory in a do or die game. The reason I say ‘batsmen’ is because this post is from the batting perspective alone. Maybe someday I’ll write about a bowlers role as well, but for now, let’s move on with the current topic. In my opinion, a team needs two types of batsmen in their armor : 1)The anchor and 2) The hard-hitting finisher. Let’s talk about the anchor role. Whenever a team is under immense pressure, irrespective of whether they are batting first or chasing, they need one or two of their players to play the anchoring innings. The literal meaning of ‘anchor’ is something that holds the ship steady at a certain place. Similarly, you need batsmen who can stay rock-solid on the pitch and steady the ship- which is the whole batting unit I’m talkin about. The role of these batsmen is to keep the score board ticking and not allow the bowlers to feel confident at any circumstance. If they can spend some time in the middle and not give the bowlers any chance to settle in, it can automatically put pressure on the bowler, and in a do or die game, all this is just added pressure. The best dot ball that a bowler can bowl is a wicket taking ball. A dot ball is not something that gives the bowler a high dose of confidence, a wicket is. Nothing can give more confidence for a bowler than taking wickets and making the batsmen uncomfortable. In order to break that confidence, the batsman has to be like an unshakeable wall in the middle. Though highly underestimated in this era, a rock solid defense is something that can play mind games with the bowler. It makes the bowler think that it is too easy for you and try different ways to attack you and somehow induce the error, and if the phase is prolonged, it means that the bowler can overthink his way into committing unwanted errors. A few bad balls is all it takes for a game to change upside down. For instance, let’s talk about New Zealand’s victory over England in the Icc wt20 semifinals, NZ needed 57 runs from 24 balls with a required run rate of 14.25; at this moment, it seemed like England had the upper hand in the game, but all it took was a few bad deliveries by Chris Jordan, and Jimmy Neesham capitalised on the oppurtunity and changed the game around and Nz went on to win the game. (Neesham scored 27 runs in 11 balls, hitting 3 sixes and 1 four). That is why putting pressure on the bowler is very important, and that’s the role of an anchor. A great example of one such innings was Gautam Gambhir’s 97(122). Very early in that match, Lasith Malinga had taken the big wickets of Sehwag and Tendulkar, and the team was under immense pressure. In such a situation, the team needed a player who can play the anchor role and turn the momentum away from the Lankan Lions. On that night that player was Gambhir. Right about the time when they were about to sink, he came in and steadied the ship. With a few more wickets the Sr Lankans could have wrapped up the game easily, but He stood there and dragged the game longer and longer. Those are the kind of players we need to win a crucial match. Players who have intense focus on the game and not worry about the wickets falling at the other end and continue to play their natural game. Those type of players are born for these clutch situations and those are the one who can win the big tournaments for the team.

The second type of player is the hard-hitting finisher. The job of the finisher is to change the pace of the game and carry the team to the finish line. The situation is like this, the anchor throws the alley-oop, and the finisher dunks it. A batsman who can rotate the strike from one end and a batsman who can attack the opposition from the other end form a deadly combination. I have never seen a successful team without great finishers. You need batsmen who can make the most of the last few overs of an innings, you need players who can hit those massive sixes and the cheeky boundaries. As I said earlier, a few bad balls can do the damage in a t20 game, and a few overs can do it in an Odi game, so the team needs players who can make the most of those bad overs. In the earlier example, I was talking about the 2011 world cup final in Mumbai, a game in which Gautam Gambhir played the anchor role. Let’s take the same game as an example, and this time, let’s talk about the importance of a finisher. After Gambhir and Kohli were out, India needed someone to get some quick runs and change the tempo of the game, and much to everyone’s surprise, MS Dhoni walked into the middle. He then went on to play one of the most iconic innings of all time, an innings which helped him stamp his authority as one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen. He hit 8 fours and 2 sixes, ten very important strikes considering the situation of the game at the moment, accumulating 91* runs in just 79 balls. The most impressive thing about Dhoni’s innings is the way he stepped up in the biggest stage of them all and never let pressure overtake him at any situation. It’s unbelievable to know that a player who had been in poor form with the bat throughout the tournament and was suddenly promoted up the order in a final game can gather up the courage to perform at the level that he did. Truly sensational! Let’s not forget about Yuvraj Singh’s handy innings of 21*(24) from the other end. These are the best examples of what a finisher is supposed to do.

This is why a team needs these two types of batsmen. The anchor steadies the ship, the finisher steers it home.