Finally, it was time for Kolkata Knight Riders to take the field in this year’s IPL. KKR is the weakest team on paper this year because they are the only team who will be playing 4 players or more in their first XI who are uncapped at the international level. And there is a 5th one – Shubman Gill who is yet to play an international T20 game. So a very inexperienced lineup – not taking away the talent – who will always be depending on a few stars to bail them out. 

The last couple of years it has all been about Andre Russell and he won matches for KKR from seemingly impossible situations.

Mumbai Indians have a stellar record against KKR and their captain loves this opposition too. No better opposition to get their campaign back on track after the loss against CSK a few days back.

So how did it go yesterday?

Here are my 5 pointers from yesterday’s match.

1. The Rohit Show

Rohit Sharma loves Eden Gardens. His test debut happened there. His world record of 264 runs in ODI happened there and he has scored tons of runs at that venue. This also meant that he scored lots of runs against KKR because Eden Gardens happen to be KKR’s home ground. Yesterday Rohit was in his elements. He pulled and drove at will. There is no better puller in the game of cricket than Rohit Sharma today. KKR did the cardinal mistake of bowling way too short and he took great advantage of the same. He missed his century yesterday but his 80 runs were way ahead of the next best scorer. 

2. The fast bowling conundrum 

From the inaugural IPL in 2008, KKR always spent a huge amount of money on a premier fast bowler. But the returns have always been poor. Be it, Ishant Sharma, in 2008 or Shane Bond in 2010 it has always been about diminishing returns. It hurt KKR even bad in 2018 when they spent a huge amount to secure the services of Mitchel Starc only to see him getting injured and subsequently not being available to play the IPL. This year, KKR spent humongous Rs. 15 Cr to secure the services of the world number 1 fast bowler – Pat Cummins. A lot depends on his performance because of the inexperienced pace bowing attack within the KKR ranks.

Unfortunately, Pat Cummins failed to fire yesterday. He was a pale shadow of his usual self. He had no control over line and length yesterday. He ended up going for 49 runs in 3 overs and his captain lost faith to have him complete the full quota of 4 overs.

3. RS 200. KP 150

Rohit Sharma hit 6 sixes yesterday and he went past the 200 sixes mark becoming the second Indian after MS Dhoni to register 200 sixes in IPL. A great achievement and he is not going anywhere soon. I won’t be surprised if he ends up hitting another 200 sixes before hanging his boots.

Keiran Pollard is synonymous with Mumbai Indians for many years now. He seemed to have had lost his mojo a couple of years back but he came back very strongly last year and is now the captain of the West Indies team. He was the captain of TKR (KKR’s Caribbean franchise) which won the CPL this year. That he completed 150 matches for Mumbai Indians is a great achievement because it shows his consistency as well as Mumbai’s love for him. They never left him out even when he had a tepid year or two. This year could be the KP year!

4. The return of Bumrah

Bumrah looked completely off-color in the last match. The 6 months of lockdown showed the rustiness as he struggled to get his length right. But yesterday the Boom Boom Bumrah was back in his elements. He was simply unplayable. His pace and guile kept the batsmen guessing throughout. His first 3 overs went for only 5 runs and he took 2 wickets too. That he went for 27 runs in his final over was an aberration because the competition was over by then.

Welcome back Bumrah!

5. Enigma called Kuldeep Yadav

KKR won IPL matches previously under the backdrop of 8 overs insurance cover from Sunil Naraine and Kuldeep Yadav. The magnificent bowling of Kuldeep Yadav till 2018 not only made him a top bowler in international cricket but also the go-to bowler for his captain in KKR. But something changed last year. He just couldn’t control his length and has always been either too short or too full and he had a horrible season which took its toll in his World Cup performance too. Cricket is a game of confidence and I felt that the lockdown period will help him to get his mojo back. But I was wrong because he was a pale shadow of 2018 yesterday. Not a single ball turned to make the batsmen uncomfortable. He was too short which was a rarity till 2018. He was milked easily and he gave away boundaries way too many. In a lineup that is filled with inexperienced players if one of your premier players is off-color then it’s very bad news for the team. Let’s see how he goes in the subsequent matches.

KKR hardly lost their inaugural matches in the previous editions and has a very high percentage of wins when it comes to winning their first match in a campaign but this year they have started in a wrong foot and with a very bad net run rate to boot. 

Will they be able to turn this around from here? What do you think?

Rajasthan Royals were the surprise winners of the inaugural IPL in 2008. They couldn’t replicate that win again and in fact, have not reached the finals ever since. They beat Chennai Super Kings in 2008 to win the championship and they faced the same opponents at Sharjah yesterday to kick off their 2020 campaign. 

Rajasthan Royals plugged a lot of gaps in their lineup in the last 2 years and after the last auction, their first XI had a very balanced look. But with Ben Stokes still to join the team and Jos Butler not available, RR had a problem in their batting. 

So how did the match go?

Here are my 5 pointers from yesterday’s match.

1. Sanju Samson’s heroics

Sanju Samson is one player who never got a long rope when it came to establishing himself in the Indian cricket team. His talent as a frontline batsman is enough to get him to the team – that he is an equally efficient wicket-keeper is an additional plus. But unfortunately, he always gets a stop-gap chance when it comes to playing for India. First, it was Dhoni who was irreplaceable then it was Rishabh Pant and now KL Rahul who is standing in between Sanju and a chance to play for India. The number of chances that Pant and Rahul got if it was given to Samson – I am very sure he would have been a permanent fixture in the Indian team by now.

Yesterday Sanju oozed class. His century partnership with Smith where he played the dominant partner was the sole reason why The Royals shot ahead of the opposition. Samson had a great opportunity to score his 3rd IPL century yesterday but he missed his chance. I hope he carries this form right through the tournament because it’s the consistency that’s the selectors are looking for and if he is consistent this year then he will get the ticket to play for India in the next T20 World Cup. 

9 sixes along with a strike rate of over 200 made this innings of Sanju Samson memorable not to forget the 2 stumpings and 2 catches that he took behind the wicket.

2. Faf du Plessis – the only saving grace for CSK

Faf is an anchorman. And he plays that role very well in the CSK set up. But when you have to chase above 200 runs then it’s about Bang Bang from the start. But you need someone who can carry the bat through. The chase becomes gettable only when there is another player at the other end who goes slogging consistently. Unfortunately for Chennai that didn’t happen consistently yesterday but Faf kept to his name and ended up with 72 runs at about 200 strike rate. He kept CSK in business till he was there at the crease. That Chennai went so far was only because of Faf who was the second-highest scorer yesterday after Sanju Samson.

3. The story of 2 overs

High scoring matches always mean sorry bowling figures but in Chennai’s case, it was actually about 2 overs. Rajasthan Royals scored 158 in 18 overs but scored 59 runs in 2 overs. One of those overs was in the early part of the match when Piyush Chawla went for 30 runs as Sanju Samson went on a rampage against him. The pitch was such that if you pitched it up then you are inviting the batsmen to slaughter you and that’s exactly what happened. The ground at Sharjah is distinctly smaller than Dubai and Abu Dhabi and so it was very difficult to contain a batsman in form. The other over happened to be the last over when Ngidi went for 29 runs. Actually he was lucky to concede only 29 runs because 25 runs were scored from his first 2 legitimate balls due to No Balls and subsequent free hits. Archer showed why he is such a dangerous player – people can remember him as an out and out fast bowler but many forget that he is more than handy with the bat. The 4 sixes that he hit in the last over made all the difference in the final equation. As you can see, these 2 overs and especially the last one is what made all the difference because Chennai lost by only 16 runs at the end.

4. Sixes galore

Small ground with less grass on the pitch meant that we were in for a run feast. The batsmen didn’t disappoint and we had 33 sixes yesterday which is a record in IPL history. That it was evenly matched by both the teams showed that even a score of 216 could have been chased down if Chennai got a better start. I think Rayudu was sorely missed yesterday!

5. Mahi sends a signal

A match featuring CSK and can you get away without a mention of Dhoni? Definitely not. He came quite late which is something he needs to think on because by the time he came the match was more or less over. Faf helped him to take the match deep but by that time the thinking was to keep the margin of loss at manageable levels considering the Net Run Rate which might come into the picture to determine the top 4. Dhoni went on a rampage in the last over with the first 3 balls going for 3 sixes. And each six was bigger than the previous one. One of the balls crossed the road adjacent to the stadium with a group of people jostling for the ball. Mahi just showed a glimpse of what he is capable of at this ripe age and no opposition captain is going to take him lightly going forward. He might not have played competitive cricket for more than 400 days but it’s all coming back quite quickly. We are in for an exciting IPL.

So what was your favourite moment from yesterday’s clash between CSK and RR?

Royal Challengers Bangalore along with Kolkata Knight Riders have always been the poster boys of IPL. The swag of their owners especially when Vijay Mallya was at the helm of affairs made RCB a team always on the news.

The profile of their players also made fans excited. Be it Chris Gayle or Virat Kohli or AB DeVillers. But top-heavy batting lineup never got the team the desired results. RCB remains one of the lowest-performing teams when it comes to IPL.

This year it looks slightly different because finally, they seem to have made the right choices. Their balance in the team looks good and hopefully, 2020 would be that breakout year for RCB.

Yesterday was RCB’s first match in this year’s IPL and here are my 5 breakout points from the match.

1. Devdutt Padikkal

People who follow Indian domestic cricket should not be surprised by this name. He has had a phenomenal 2019-20 and it was no surprise that he was named in the opening lineup yesterday. He looked like a class apart yesterday. His fluid strokeplay on the offside and in the V stamped his class. It was expected that Aaron Finch would be the aggressor with Padikkal playing the second fiddle. But it was completely the opposite. A 90 run opening partnership at a quick time gave RCB the start that they needed for a solid middle-order to make the most. The best part was that it was dominated by Padikkal who himself scored a dominant 50. We will hear a lot about him in the near future.

2. The ABDV finish

If the opening partnership gave RCB a rousing start, it was left to AB Devillers to finish it off. Losing both the openers in the space of 2 balls meant RCB had to play a period of consolidation as both Kohli and AB got their eye in. Virat couldn’t score many and that left AB to finish things off nicely. The innings stuttered in the middle overs and RCB would have struggled to reach 150 if ABDV didn’t give the necessary push. The sixes that he hit were those which only AB can especially the hit over extra cover. remember these grounds are at least 15 metres longer than the Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was his hitting which ensured that RCB crossed 150 and finally ended up with a score of 163 runs.

3. Johny Bairstow

Bairstow started his IPL career last year and he was the standout player in the initial part of last year’s IPL. Nothing changed and he was on the money right from the word go. Sunrisers Hyderabad has a big gaping hole in the middle order this year especially with Shakib not available hence its a very top-heavy batting lineup. Bairstow didn’t disappoint and till he was there it looked an easy chase for SRH. In fact, he had scored 50% of the runs of SRH till he was there. He along with Manish Pandey played a good hand after the initial dismissal of Warner. That he was the highest scorer among all players in the match proved his dominance yesterday. Ironically his wicket made all the difference yesterday.

4. Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal is a product of IPL. He first burst into the scene a few years back and been a permanent spinner for RCB. A leg spinner who loves playing chess and it was no surprise that he was always looking to get wickets. A few years back he used to pick up wickets but used to go for a lot of runs but he learnt new tricks, improved his line of attack, varied his pace and broke into the Indian team. he along with Kuldeep Yadav made India a force to reckon with in the limited-overs format in 2018-19. Yesterday when the Bairstow-Manish partnership was going well, it was Chahal who broke that partnership by taking the wicket of Manish Pandey. His first 3 overs went for only 12 runs. But it was the final over that turned out to be the defining over of the match. With SRH looking set to win at 121/2, Chahal took 2 wickets in 2 balls including the prize scalp of Bairstow. 121/2 suddenly became 121/4 with a dodgy middle order and an injured Mitchel Marsh. Chahal finished with 3/18 in his 4 overs and was rightly declared the Man of the Match.

5. The collapse

Chahal triggered the collapse but the equation was still in Sunrisers’ favour. If you want to know what is the meaning of “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” – look no further other than the highlights package of yesterday’s chase. From 121/2 SRH collapsed to 153 all-out losing 8 wickets for 32 runs in the space of 22 balls. Comical run out of Abhishek Sharma and an equally comical way of getting out of Priyam Garg just amplified the troubles of SRH. Mitchel Marsh’s injury didn’t help either. This was the second-worst collapse in IPL history and something that SRH has to forget very quickly.

RCB starts with a win which is a rarety going by their past records but SRH looks in trouble already. First, they don’t have the services of Shakib and now Williamson is injured and his replacement Mitchel Marsh also got injured. The young Indian players have to step up otherwise this would be a campaign to forget for SRH.

So what are your views on yesterday’s match? Is RCB looking strong to be the title contenders this year?

IPL is back and how!

2 days – 2 matches – 2 humdingers and already one super over!

This IPL will be closely contested. Each team is evenly matched. It’s going to be fun.

Here are my 5 best moments from yesterday’s match between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab.

1. MD. Shami breathing fire

Shami broke into the Indian team during Sachin’s farewell series in 2013. He came in as an out and out, pace bowler. A bowler who can swing the bowl at a very good pace. His rise in Test Cricket was phenomenal but he couldn’t transfer that potential into the Limited Overs format. He was highly inconsistent in his line and length when it came to 50 overs or 20 overs cricket. But his breakout year was 2018 when he made a comeback looking fitter and some new balls in his armoury namely the bouncer and the knuckle ball. He became the go-to man for Virat Kohli during the Cricket World Cup in 2019. Shami turned out to be one of the few Indian cricketers in the first 2 matches in this IPL who didn’t look rusty after the 6 months break. He was breathing fire yesterday. Each and every ball looked like will get him a wicket. He was unlucky to not get 4 wickets due to a dropped catch but his return of 3/15 in his 4 overs was easily the best bowling figures of the match.

2. Marcus Stoinis ‘ heroics with the bat

Delhi Capitals was in all sorts of troubles right from the word go. Shami’s bowling along with bad batting and running pushed them back. Though Pant and Iyer brought back some sanity they were far behind from the par score. It all changed in the last 2-3 overs as Marcus Stoinics showed why he is regarded so highly among the pundits. He took 30 runs of Jordan in the last over and from a below-par total Delhi Capitals ended on a high with 153 runs to defend.

3. Ashwin 

Ashwin was the captain of the KingsXIPunjab last year and I expected him to make a difference in this match while playing his last year’s team. And how right was I? His first over which turned out to be his only over broke the back of the KingsXI chase. He conceded 2 runs and took 2 wickets. 33/2 became 35/4 and the chase was derailed. But unfortunately, Ashwin got injured in the last ball (hopefully its not shoulder dislocation because if that’s the case then Delhi Capitals will struggle with their lineup for the rest of the tournament).

4. Mayank Agarwal

As batsmen came and went and the score reading 55/5 at one stage, one player stood solid for Kings XI Punjab and it was Mayank Agarwal. For 75% of the innings, his strike rate was below 100 but then he took off towards the end and ended up scoring 58% of their runs. He scored 89 of 60 balls (Should have been 90 because the umpire wrongly called one run short earlier in the match – how ironic that the match ended in a tie). Mayank opened the batting and almost carried the bat through only to gift his wicket away with the team needing 1 run to win off 2 balls.

5. Marcus Stoinis ‘ heroics with the ball

The day was not over for Stoinis. His batting heroics was followed by bowling heroics. With Ashwin injured after bowling only one over, Stoinis had to bowl the other 3 overs and his 3rd over turned out to be the last over of the match. With Mayank on strike and 13 runs to win the momentum was with KingsXIPunjab. The first 3 balls yielded 12 runs and the match was tied. KingsXIPunjab got ready to celebrate only to see the next 3 balls go like this: DOT, W, W. From an absolutely hopeless situation, Marcus Stoinis once again brought Delhi Capitals back into the match. It was a tie.

With such a high octane finish, the Super Over turned out to be a dud. But this match will be remembered for the ups and downs through the 40 overs. Delhi capitals from scoring a below-par total ended up scoring heftily at the end and then with 1 run needed of 3 balls, KingsXIPunjab found a way to tie the match and subsequently lose the super over.

So what do you think that turned the match yesterday?

IPL is back. The poster boy of Indian Cricket – Indian Premier League was back on our TV screens yesterday.

The last year finalists, Mumbai Indians (MI) & Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took on each other in the inaugural match this time.

These are different times and difficult times too. To stage a tournament of this magnitude amidst the pandemic of Covid-19 was a challenge but economics play a big role in everyone’s lives.

So here we are back to India’s signature cricket tournament which is revered across the world.

The game marked the return of India’s iconic cricket captain, MS Dhoni to active cricket after more than 400 days.

Dhoni has not lost any of his sense humour though. During the toss time interview, MS said that because of all social distancing norms he asked the match referee if he can keep the first slip! No one could have said that other than Dhoni because he entertains you and that’s why he is so loved by everyone.

It must be very difficult for all cricketers because living inside a biosecurity bubble for more than 2 months is a very big challenge but that’s what it is and everyone has to not only take care of themselves but of everyone else’s as well. Breaking the protocol would put the entire tournament at risk. It’s good to see that all teams are together in this matter. It’s another matter that at the end of this all, the cricketers might feel like Bigg Boss winners staying isolated for so long.

For fans like us who have seen 95% of IPL on TV, it’s same as usual because we love cricket and to see our favourite cricketers back on the field is a motivation in itself. The last 6 months have been a struggle for everyone and it’s a struggle even today. But if cricket can entertain us and keep us happy then why not.

I hope to write every day related to IPL going forward and I will leave the cliche of being a cricket reporter and rather focus on 5 best moments of a match each day. So here goes my report for the inaugural match between CSK and MI.

1. The inaugural speech by Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak while thanking the dignitaries ended up thanking Jay Shah first who is the secretary of BCCI and followed that with Sourav Ganguly (gave a strange pronunciation of his name which only he could repeat) who is the president of BCCI. Was that intentional to show that Amit Shah (father of Jay Shah and the second most important man in India’s politics today) rules the roost? Where does that put Sourav Ganguly? How come he has become so compromising when he was known for calling spade a spade? Does power make people lose their inner conscience? Do you lose your fighting spirit and self-respect to hang on to the chair? 

2. Many cricketers in the playing 11 looked extremely unfit. Saurabh Tiwary made me feel like as if I was in the field. The fat tummies owing to multiple weeks of lockdown seems to have taken their toll. Lots of balls went between the legs. The quality of fielding, especially by the Indian cricketers, was pathetic. Hope the rustiness will get over after a couple of matches. 

3. Faf du Plessis was the man in the field and ended up taking 3 catches and two of them were brilliant. I am very sure the catch that he took to get rid of Hardik Pandya made a difference of at least 20 runs and hence according to me that catch is actually the turning point of the match.

4. Ambati Rayudu made a tongue and cheek tweet couple of years back about 3D glasses when he was overlooked for the Indian World Cup team because he didn’t bowl and was a relatively weak fielder. It created quite a furore in 2019. Ironically CSK sent him at number 4 and he came in when CSK looked in big trouble but he top-scored for them and along with Faf took the team to a position of great strength from where CSK won the match. 

5. Dhoni’s masterstroke of sending Jadeja and then Sam Curran ahead of himself and Kedar Jhadav to keep the left and right partnership going. Jadeja failed but Sam Curran scored 18 runs in 5 balls to change the course of the match and he made the equation easy to get in the death overs. Proves once again why Dhoni is considered one of the best captains ever. Incidentally, this win took him to 100 wins as a captain in IPL.

What are the main incidents of the first match that you think that left a mark for you?

It was in the first week of March while coming from Puri that I last went to Express Food Plaza, a nice restaurant near Kolaghat.

For the first time after Covid-19, I went out once again yesterday to have lunch and guess what the place was once again Express Food Plaza.

Mukesh and Asif picked me up from my place at around 1 PM. The traffic was normal but thankfully no traffic congestion because Andul Road has a nasty history of traffic jams. On the way to Kolaghat, you have to pass through one toll plaza at Dhulagarh. The government of India last year mandated FasTag for all cars to stop congestion at the toll plazas but it’s not 100% implemented yet. The funny thing is that the technology used and the people who are managing the system are making the FasTag lanes slow-moving and this resulted in us losing 15 minutes at the toll plaza.

In between Dhulagarh and Kolaghat there are 2 big vegetable markets and it was quite surprising to see that not even 10% of the people wearing masks. Masks have become like helmets and seat belts in India – the rule is there but most don’t follow. The bigger problem is that without masks you are not fined too hence nobody cares. Just proves how badly we implement anything in India.

The plan was actually to have food at Sher – e – Punjab Hotel but when we reached there, the place was filled with people with a one KM line to get a seat. It didn’t sound a good idea to stand in line and that too under the hot sun standing in a queue and so the next best idea was to have food at the Express Food Plaza.

People who have gone to this place will know that the area is so huge that there is never a waiting time to get a table. But I thought I will see some difference this time since with social distancing and all it was expected for the tables to be spaced out.

How wrong was I!

There was no one at the gate who will sanitize you. This goes against the basic protocol that the Government has issued. The sitting arrangement had no change. It was exactly as it was in the first week of March. Quite understandably the place was not filled but the distance between tables was way too less. As soon as we came in, no one bothered to clean the table in front of us. Same case with the plates. I think it should be a basic protocol to clean the table and the plates with proper sanitised papers in front of the customers. I am not sure why that’s not being followed.

This just shows that people just don’t listen to government advice and this country will only change when we the people try and understand that following the rules is the duty of all citizens of the country.

The waiters were all wearing masks and gloves and caps but no one was sanitising the hands in front of us while bringing the food to us. What’s happening inside the kitchen can be well understood.

My question is why doesn’t the government get more strict in these matters? We need proactiveness from the authorities to make these businesses responsible. We are fighting against a dreaded virus so we better get more strict in these matters.

Today India reported more than 87,000 new cases and if people don’t follow any protocol the entire health system might crack. When are we going to realise that?

Anyways, enough of gyaan, now let’s talk about food.

I have known Asif for more than 25 years. If his name was not Asif – we could easily call him SOSI (SO from Soup and SI from Pepsi). And true to his name he ordered Soup. We also ordered Tandoori Chicken – didn’t have this dish for more than 6 months.

The food at Express  Food Plaza is good. For the main course Asif ordered Fried Rice & Chilly Chicken, Mukesh ordered Masala Kulcha & Butter Chicken and I went for Alu Paratha with Ommellete. Once again went for Alu Paratha because didn’t have this for more than 6 months. We followed this up with Pepsi and true to His name, Asif (SOSI) had twice the amount of Pepsi that I and Mukesh had.

Anyways it was good fun having food at a restaurant after so long though the issue of not following the protocols by the restaurant left a bad feeling. It was equally good to drive through 60 kilometres each way. 

The car back on the roads and I guess we are not far off from our next long journey. Where will it be? We don’t know yet.

I was finally dropped off at my place around 5.30 PM.

So have you been to a restaurant recently? What has been your experience?

I once had a boss who was more of a teacher. With him, each day was learning. During his tenure, he never told me “how” to do any activity. He just kept telling me “why” to do the particular activity. Till that day, I was always told “what” to do. First time in my life I got a reporting head telling me “why” to do it.

Today when I look back, I believe he followed the SERVE model of leadership:

S: See the future – As a leader one needs to have the foresight that comes with experience & how you inspire your team towards that goal differentiates you from the rest.

E: Engage & Develop Others – How well you wear your mentorship hat will ensure how well your team develops into a winning team.

R: Reinvent – Learn, Unlearn & Relearn. In this ever-changing technological landscape, as a leader, you need to be abreast with the latest happenings around you. How flexible you are in this matter plays an important role in your development as a quality leader.

V: Value Relationships – How well you nurture your relationships be it with your customers or your team members will make your team members look up to you.

E: Empowerment – Give confidence to your team members to explore without fear.

Thoughts?

My water purifier suddenly stopped working. My wife immediately called up the customer service of Eureka Forbes and they arranged the service engineer within 2 hours. My machine was back and running within another hour. That’s customer service.
Eureka Forbes is famous for providing great customer service and I have never changed my brand for several years for this precise reason. They made me “wow” once again.
Not for a moment, they said that they are filled with customer requests so there might be a delay. The crisis was not an excuse for them but an opportunity to “wow” the customer many times over.
This is an example of how a company ensures to keep a customer on board for a lifetime.
So what are the important traits of great customer service?
1. Communication Skills
2. Customer Empathy
3. Owning up to a problem
4. Problem Solving Skills
5. Time Management
6. Patience
Most importantly the customer has to be happy.
What has been your experience related to great customer service? What traits you think are an absolute necessity to excel in great customer service?

We have these annual cricket matches and tournaments in our company and for the last few years, the constant in all such tournaments have been the “Player of the Series” – Avik. Invariably he will end up being the best player if not the best batsman/best bowler. Even in the recent corporate tournament, he was the go-to man of the team.
Undoubtedly he is a very good player but we have other good players as well. How is he so consistent, especially in a corporate set up? Is there some distinct difference between him and others?
This brings me to the topic of “Fighting Hypothesis”. Avik is a leftie. He bats and bowls left-handed. Only 11% of the population in the world is left-handed and hence left-handed people in direct one-one combat are more prepared against right-handed people. For example, as a leftie, you will practise against right-handers most of the time but a rightie won’t have that option because he will mostly practise against right-handers. This makes left-handed people in direct sports have a distinct advantage. The advantage is most visible in combat sports as well as one to one sports like Tennis. It’s also visible in cricket.
What do you think? Do left-handers have a distinct advantage against right-handers?

Quite a few years back, I was introduced to a person when I wanted to purchase a new LIC policy.

That lead to a long term relationship and he became my sole agent related to mutual funds as well as medical insurance.

When we started the company and as we got some free-flowing cash we decided to park some of our funds in Liquid and Balanced Mutual Funds.

Quite naturally I turned to him again. As it turned out he was an expert in individual account handling but didn’t have much knowledge in corporate accounts. What this meant was that we didn’t get the personalised support that we were expecting from him. 

In the meanwhile around 2014, I was introduced by my neighbour with another person who was also into similar nature of business. I was attached with the earlier person and I didn’t change my agent but this new person used to meet me and give me tips on financial matters and more so about corporate treasury related strategies.

The earlier person’s support kept dwindling day by day and he in fact stopped visiting us regularly because he was unable to solve a lot of our corporate issues. I decided to get a LIC policy done through this new contact for my wife and she started investing in Mutual Funds too through him. Within a month or so I could realise the difference in how he was helping us with crystal clear information. 

I think proposed his name to my board of directors to have him as our agent for Mutual Fund Transactions. Little by little over the next one year he took over. He helped us tremendously during any crisis situation. Never forgot to return a call and always made it a point to visit us at least once in a month. His customer service was exemplary and it was profound during the DHFL crisis, YesBank crisis, and also in between the Pandemic of Covid-19.

Now he has made sure that we can transact everything online without any external help.

This is what defines great customer service. Understanding the client’s problem and solving it anyhow and keeping in touch with the customer at all times. By having such traits you build a relationship for life.

Thoughts?

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