India lost to SA with a couple of balls to spare in the T20 worldcup group match. The match could have gone easily the other way around. A few of the South African batsmen were chewing their nails as the match entered the last over, as they know what India can do, even though just six runs needed to win! Thanks to Miller they crossed the target!

But, for India and for every learner, especially youth who are competing to further their career interests, there are many lessons to be learnt from the match…for CAT, XAT, CLAT..

A. You always compete against yourself.

You are your best competitor. As long as you do it, you are on the right path of progression. Be the best you can be in any situation. Give your best, not worrying about the outcome.

Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) is a great example of such a character. You always see that intensity, the desire to give his best, the fighter who fights all the way. Without his performance, India would have tamely surrendered.

As a test taker, CAT, CLAT, CIVILs or any, ask yourself how is your intensity. How are you working upon yourself, your attitude, approach…. Let not the thoughts of outcome bother you anytime. Do what is right and at the right time. Let the intensity of your work not diminish at any cost…whatever the situation you are placed in…

B. There is no short cut to glory. Work on fundamentals.

You cannot blindly hit through to win any match or any exam. You need to be sound on your fundamentals, first. Mental state or sound techniques. T20 is not about blindly hitting. If you look at the matches in this world cup, it has many examples of how teams have managed to win.

The best way to play is to be calm and collective. Believe in yourself. First understand the pitch, the stadium dimensions, the weather conditions, the bowlers and their approach on the pitch.

Play the first 10 overs like a one day match, focus on collecting runs, in quick twos and threes, playing ground strokes and getting across the cordon. Tire the bowlers. Do not give wickets. Save them. Any team that has accumulated even 60-70 runs in the first 10 overs without losing more than a wicket or two, has gained confidence, deflated the opponents morale and has scored 170+. Any team that has done that has gone on to win the match…

How you start the innings is the most important. You gain confidence with all intent to invest in understanding the pitch and bowlers psyche first, on how they are using the pitch and weather conditions. You cannot go blasting from the word go without understanding these ….

Losing half a team before first 10 overs is a crime. And even a SKY with all intensity cannot resurrect the team….

Rohit and Rahul have been disastrous thus far. Rahul has been a complete failure. With half of the opening gate collapsing how will the rest of the warriors fight. Rohit is no less casual. Only the middle order has saved India thus far.

Now imagine what all can happen, if both Rahul and Rohit play the innings taking ones and twos, and punishing only the lose balls in the first 10 overs. They will unleash fearless Virat and SKY, devastating Hardik and Finisher Karthik on any opponent with ferocious intent! Unfortunately in none of the matches thus far, Rahul and Rohit have given sound platform to the middle order to go for the onslaught. If at all India has to win, the openers have to get a good score together. That will be the secret for any team to lift the cup.

When you talk of your CAT, CLAT or any exam. This holds true.

1. Be sound on fundamentals. Keep working at it.

Hope, by now, you have understood that key to excellence is to have command over English and keenness to read, enjoy reading every kind of genre and relate yourself quickly.

That is all about excelling in the first 10 overs to gain confidence and also gain such a score that none can come any close to you.. Only command over RC can give you confidence in the whole game of CAT, XAT, CLAT…

2. Be positive in attitude. Be quick in everything you do. Be purposeful, thoughtful, involved with intent. Keep moving. Do not waste time. Focus on the process. Gain confidence in yourself, while setting the pace for the most productive time ahead.

a. You must be trained to be discerning. What to pick to solve, and what not to.

b. What to leave and run, and not get stuck.

c. Which choices to eliminate, and which choices you can use to quickly arrive at the answer.

3. Believe in your subconscious mind. A trained mind over the months and years of work will never let you down. Trust the mind and its ability to understand, analyse, churn the data, process the information and take those decisions for you to make choices.. Keep executing….Believe.

C. You cannot afford to be lackadasical, have self doubts…

In the match yesterday, Markam and Miller were given so many chances…dropped catches by none other than intense Virat, easy runouts missed…and these allowed the two to stitch a partnership that could have been easily nixed in its infancy if only India did their basics (fielding) right….these two went on to not just save South Africa, but also bolster the confidence of Miller to take the team across with a brace of sixers…in the dying moments…

Look at people like Shammi, with hardly any T20 practice in the last one year, still holding on to fundamentals steadfastly, not giving away any runs, whenever summoned to bowl, at any point of time in the innings… that’s the role fundamentals play… giving confidence to take on anyone any time….

By neglecting the basics, not doing the basic things right, you can never ace CAT, XAT, CLAT or any exam…

1. Have you been enjoying relishing reading? Been practising 10-15 articles every day, from Aeon etc on a wide variety of genre? If you are, then the subconscious mind is trained enough..

2. Have you got command over tables, reciprocals-percentages, squares and cubes (roots) and practising religiously, quickly on how to apply them… Arithmetic that constitutes over 50% of quant and entire DI is just these… You shall neglect these at your own peril..

3. Are you believing your subconscious mind to apply all the learnings from the above two practices, while executing the tests… An intense SKY or Virat execute every shot, with all intensity, subconsciously ….the body naturally moves with the mind commanding to quickly execute….

Even a Sikander Raza, with minimal techniques, but with sound fundamentals and strong belief has been able to take Zimbabwe across the line in the last many matches…

Are you ready to take yourself across the line in the greatest match of your life – The CAT, XAT, CLAT, CIVILS….

Just Do It! God bless!