Intel inside bats! It’s happening

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

London, May 29

Intel inside the bats? Yes, such bats are on the anvil. 

The International Cricket Council (ICC), with the aid of tech giant Intel, has come up with something absolutely new. Chips in the bats. No, not chipped bats, but computer chips in the bats.

The details are yet to be revealed, but the idea, according to ICC, is to “enhance the cricket experience” and “help the coaches and players improve performance”.

The data collected from the bat-swing pattern of the players, their preferred shots, etc., is to be used by the coaches and players to raise their games.

It is understood that several players from each team have tested this technology in the nets, their bats fitted with these chips/sensors. From India, it is learnt, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin have shown great interest in it and could use the Intel “chipped” bats in the Champions Trophy.

Jadhav at it

Kedar Jadhav went hammer and tongs at the batsmen-only nets today, facing bowlers from local clubs. The nets bowlers were left stunned by the onslaught, and many of them went to him to congratulate him on his shot-making.

Jadhav, though, doesn’t care too much for attention. He played down his strokeplay at the nets: “The nets wickets are very good, so after two-three balls you get to know how good the wicket is... And the way I’m batting, if the ball is there to be hit, it has to go to the boundary, or runs have to be scored.”

The match wickets, though, Jadhav knows, could be very different. He reached here yesterday, along with Rohit Sharma —Jadhav’s visa was delayed while Rohit wished to attend the wedding of a close friend in Mumbai. 

Jadhav could see during yesterday’s practice game against New Zealand that it was a tough grind in the middle. “I could see the batsmen working hard for every run,” he said. “They did not look settled, with the conditions changing frequently. There was grass on the wicket and the change in weather conditions meant the ball was swinging.”

“If it goes like this, you could still be aggressive but technically you have to bat like you are batting in a Test match or Ranji Trophy — leave the good balls and score at every opportunity that you get,” Jadhav said.

Respect!

Bangladesh are commanding the respect of the cricketing nations. They play India in a practice match tomorrow, and their senior pro, Tamim Iqbal, is brimming with confidence.

The team is ranked No. 6 in the world after series wins against South Africa, India and Pakistan over the last couple of years. They’ve forced their way into this elite eight-team tournament, leading to the eviction of West Indies.

They knocked out India in the 2007 World Cup, chasing down India’s 191 easily. Iqbal, then only a teenager, had made 51 off 53 balls. “As a team, we’ve come a long way,” he says. “We were ranked maybe 10th then, now we’re 6th. It didn’t come easy.”

And now he sees respect in the eyes of his opponents. “Yes, when you start winning games, people will notice you, people will respect you,” he says. “The respect that we deserve, we’re getting!”

Yuvi out of hospital, likely to miss warm-up tie

Yuvraj Singh, who had been down with viral fever, will almost certainly miss tomorrow’s practice game against Bangladesh. Yuvraj, in fact, had to spend last night in hospital, and he was discharged today. The Indian team management informed that Yuvraj, who missed India’s first practice match, is getting better. However, it’s very, very unlikely that he would figure in tomorrow’s practice game against Bangladesh. 

Yuvraj, thus, might have to play against Pakistan without a practice match after landing in England.