Play the Game as per your strength. A Reverse sweep is a tough shot. Players like Rishabh Pant and Surayakumar Yadav make it look easy and score lots of runs.
In the 1987 Reliance World Cup Final at Eden Garden, Kolkata England was well placed at 135/2, chasing a modest target of 254 against Australia. Mike Gatting was playing textbook cricket for well-made 41 runs from 45 balls. Australian Captain Allan Border, who was not a regular bowler, came to bowl in desperation. Mike Gatting played a reverse sweep (probably to score a boundary) straight to Dyer at the short third man when he could have placed the ball in the front anywhere (for a single or a double).
England could never recover from that and lost the final by seven runs, handing Australia their First ODI World Cup win.
The story's moral is that you must select the shot based on your capabilities and situations.
For some, staying on the pitch and scoring ones and twos can help them reach the target. For others, hitting fours and sixes by playing a tricky shot like a reverse sweep can also help.
Play the game as it is suitable for you. Reaching the target is essential, not which shot you played.
SIP is a simple concept of buying regularly in a market that will go up and down in the short to medium term but will be up over a long period of time.
For an average investor, staying the course of an investment is more important than trying to buy at a low level and stopping at the top. Please remember that no one can predict the future. It is your time in the market, not Timing the market, that makes money for you.
Like in cricket, where many shots can be played to score runs, there are many ways to make money in Mutual Funds apart from SIP.
Follow the following means to enhance your return, in consultation with your Mutual Fund Distributor or advisor.
- SIP top-up when markets have become cheaper (SIP returns have become negative like in the Wuhan virus crisis)
- Asset allocation across debt, equity, gold, and real estate is to be overweight in cheap markets and underweight in expensive markets. Don't ignore tax and transaction costs.
We have often seen that fund returns and investor returns are widely different. The main reason is that people try to time the market or become rich overnight.
SIP is the panchtantra story of slow and steady winning the race. If you are a hare who won't sleep, run. If you are a tortoise, keep walking, and you will win the race. You will be out of the game only if you are a tortoise but still run or a hare and go to sleep.
Nilesh Shah is managing director of Kotal Mutual Fund