MBA Blogs @ Manchester Business School

MBAT- The MBA sports tournament is  not just a sporting event….. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that you can not afford to miss! Plus its in PARIS- need I say more?

This week we talk to Umair Qazi, Captain of the cricket team to find out more about the team and what they’ve been up to, to ensure that MBS rocks during the games!

1.What is the name of the MBS cricket team? We haven’t decided on one but are contemplating between Manchester Royals, Manchester Stallions, or Manchester Bushrangers

2. What training sessions, diets, sleep patterns do you have them on to get into shape? Training sessions are held once a week where we play the game under competition conditions. Eating and sleeping before the morning training is entirely optional, in some cases not even required. With the workload in the MBA, it is quite impossible to sleep well before a game of cricket. Getting into shape is not important either.. its cricket after all.. the bigger u are the harder u hit the ball! Some of the best batsmen have been out of shape men. Oh and after a training session pizzas and burgers are the norm.

3. Where and when do you train? We train behind the ferrari showroom at Garten’s Garden. Every Sunday at 11am. You are more than welcome to come and watch.

4. How many hours a week do you train? 2-3 hours every Sunday. It can be more if the school wants us to continue playing instead of working. I’ll speak to Elaine regarding this

5. Are there any ladies in the team? If not can ladies join? No ladies in the team. Its not a requirement as per MBAT rules; however all the boys would love to have some ladies play cricket with them. Anyone interested?

6. Is M&A, PMO and all the other stuff we learn a requirement to play cricket and joint the team? PMO? What in the world is PMO a requirement for? Is there anything we do in life that required PMO? I highly doubt it! M&A on the other hand is extremely important. Just how it is important to know the owners and management of the company you are acquiring, in cricket you are required to know everything about the players in the opposition team. Our strategy will be based on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents, after of course conducting a SWOT analysis of our own team. Who to target, how to get them out, how to bowl to them, how to bat against specific bowlers – all these areas need to be identified and a potential ranking of the opposition players needs to be determined in order to specify the strategic objectives. Then of course come the implementation; just like the justification in M&A. Unlike M&A however, there are no synergies whatsoever between us and the opposing team. Synergies among the players within our team can    be found.

7. What/ Who inspires the team? Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Javed Miandad, Sunil Gavaskar, Wasim Akram, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam Ul Haq, MS Dhoni, Raveena Tandon, Katrina Kaif, Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Deepika Padukone… they’re all our inspiration!

8. Anything else you’d like to let the class know about the team, cricket or MBAT? We’re going for GOLD! 

I was hoping to get a couple of pictures of the team, but their captain warned me that they are just TOO HOT to be posted onto the Blog. So if your curious- join them, cheer them on or catch up with them during one of their training sessions!

 THE CRICKET TEAM’S ON FIRE!!! WHAT ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU READY FOR THE GAMES?