The months of April and May are the summer season here in India. Along with the onset of scorching heat, it is usually vacation time for school-going kids. It also marks the arrival of the juicy and sweet Alphonso Mangoes which is widely known as the King of Fruits.

For cricket lovers, these two months are extremely special because of the T-20 cricket tournament IPL i.e Indian Premier League. Ever since my school days, I remember being excited for the IPL to commence. I am that sure every team fan has gone through a roller-coaster of emotions of joy, sadness, thrill, and exuberance while supporting their favourite IPL team.

But what makes IPL truly special? I thought about some of the factors and what we can learn from them:

1. Each team fields a playing XI which is the best as per the scenario and which tries to deliver their best! An example of this is the superhuman fielding efforts.

Even we can aim to deliver our best while performing our job!

2. For each player to be at his best, requires an adequate amount of strength training, cardio, practice of bowling, batting, fielding, proper nutrition, and rest.

Every human being should give importance to his health by exercising, eating nutritious food, and resting well.

We need to put in the hours for whatever we wish to master. Correct and Consistent Practice is important to succeed!

3.  Each team has a support staff consisting of experienced coaches, mentors, physiotherapists, and video analysts who are there to train and guide the players!

The simplest way to learn a new skill or get better at an existing one is to get trained or coached by an experienced individual.

4.    It’s not over till it’s over. We have seen teams chasing humungous and difficult to achieve totals and bowlers turning the game with their wickets. We have also seen teams lifting the trophy after a series of initial losses.

The secret ingredient to winning in life and sport lies in Confidence and Self-Belief!

5.    The IPL has discovered so many hidden talents and given them a platform to perform! Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya Brothers, Ishan Kishan are few of the names.

If you are a leader/manager in your organization then you must find a way to discover, improve and enhance the skills and talents of your employees.

Many of us have hidden talents, we just need to discover and practice them. Examples are singing, playing musical instruments, painting, etc.

As I reach the end of this post, I have two activities for you.

First Activity Pick any one of your favourite cricketers and try to embody his qualities for the next 30 days.

Examples-

1)    MS Dhoni- Cool and Calm Nature, Ability to Strategize.

2)    Virat Kohli- Focus on fitness, Ferociousness.

3)    Rahul Dravid- Stability and textbook execution of shots.

4)    Brett Lee/ Mitchell Johnson- Speed and Accuracy

5)    Chris Gayle/Dwayne Bravo- Easy Going, Fun Loving with Focus on the game.

Second ActivityPlay a game of cricket with your friends and/or family!

I hope you enjoyed reading the post. Feel free to share valuable feedback and support.