When we look back at the epic Test series in Australia that India won recently, we will think of Shubman Gill’s blitzkrieg at the top. We’ll think of Cheteshwar Pujara displaying the mental fortitude of a man who gets slapped on the face and turns the other cheek. There’s of course Rishabh Pant’s match-winning heroism as well. But tellingly, there’s also the fact that we saved a crucial Test because all-rounders like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja contributed with both the ball and bat, and we eventually won the series because Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur did the same in the final match. Had they not chipped in with both skills, ‘Slaughter at the Gabbatoir’ — mid-day’s headline after the victory — might have been turned on its head.

But the benefits of these attributes are not just limited to the cricketing field. They apply to an individual’s workspace as well, especially in a post-pandemic world, where there’s an intense amount of chopping and changing in the corporate sphere. Leading success coach Anand Chulani, who’s been a mental-conditioning coach for international cricketers  like Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler too, tells us that a person can achieve additional skill-sets only if they have a growth mindset. He says, “[American psychologist] Dr Carol Dweck has explained how there are essentially two mindsets — the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. People with the first sort feel that they can do only one thing, and they won’t adapt to change. That’s why you have to have a growth mindset, where you question how you can add more value to yourself and to your organisation.”