Cricket is close to me for two reasons. It's a very popular game in my home country, Australia, and it's the one passion that can unite a billion-plus in India, my home of the last 12 years.

My earliest memory of cricket dates back about 25-30 years or thereabouts. A lot has changed with the glorious game of cricket since then.

And I would have to be in a coma to not sense the rising fever pitch, thanks to the ICC World Cup 2011.

The viewership figures of the IPL matches last year are one indication of the rising popularity of the game, albeit in newer formats.

And the intensity of passion for the game is demonstrated by the thronging crowds in front of TV windows at stores during the World Cup, and scores with ears glued to their radios and mobiles keeping abreast of the live score.

Of course, if India is playing, we take it for granted that there will be lesser traffic on the roads!

As a manager, it's difficult for me to miss stories in the press about productivity going down and attention of employees getting distracted because of cricket.

At Amway India, we say, enjoy your work, keep your work commitments, but don't let that keep you from following the game you love so much! The reverse holds true too.

I would be impractical if I asked everyone to refrain from following the vibrant game.

We have to respect the fact that it's a passion that can actually motivate performance at work.

Happy professionals deliver better. I do.

And I'd be happy to see the best team win this World Cup.

(The author is MD & CEO, Amway India Enterprises (P) Ltd.)

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