The term ‘work-life balance' gets a new spin when the Men in Blue walk onto the Mohali grounds Wednesday afternoon. Most of Corporate India is planning to wind up for the day by 2-30 p.m. to back the home team in its run towards the World Cup final. Companies, not willing to lose out on productivity, have also figured out a way for their employees to capture the exciting moments of the Indo-Pak semi-finals by altering their work timings for the day.

Bharti Axa General Insurance is revising its timings for the day and more than 1,300 employees will be allowed to work from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Employees who do not find this convenient can stick to the regular working hours,” said a spokesperson. Bharti Axa GI's regular office timings are 9 a.m. to 5-30 p.m.

Tata Interactive Services, an e-learning firm, has given employees the choice of either working the regular hours or doing an 8-30 a.m. to 1-30 p.m. shift. “We are sure that a majority of us in TIS are cricket lovers and would not want to miss out on any of the action.” said a circular from the company to its employees.

Techies at Bangalore-based Aditi Technologies too have decided to wrap up by 2-30 p.m. when the first ball will be bowled. “They plan to leverage the flexi timing benefit at Aditi. We expect that many will start their day early, finish tasks by the time the match starts and enjoy the game,” said Mr Niranjan Nelamangalam, Vice-President, People Department, Aditi Technologies.

Some companies, such as MakeMyTrip.com and Cocoberry, have even declared Wednesday a holiday.

Apart from altered timings, employees at tech company Mahindra Satyam will get to watch the match in a festive atmosphere with the company arranging for snacks and drinks. Mr Hari Thalapalli, Chief People Officer, Mahindra Satyam, says: “We also have relaxed the dress code for the day. We are encouraging India jerseys and T-shirts.”

Tech firm Sapient is encouraging its people to dress in Team India's blue, and also decorating the office in a cricket theme to convey the true experience.

Ms Vidya Srinivasan, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure & Logistics, Genpact, says, “As this is once in four years, we decided to screen the match in a large format to give our employees a thrilling experience.”

Not just at home, across the border too, the match is having its impact. In Lahore, organisers of the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week (PFDC-SFW) have cancelled Wednesday's shows for the highly anticipated cricket World Cup match. The four-day fashion extravaganza, organised by the Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC), starts Tuesday.

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