Champions Trophy 2017: Chip-installed bats to be used by Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane
What’s the story?
In the upcoming Champions Trophy, computerised chips will be installed in the bats of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. The chips are designed to track the player’s movement and the data collected will be used by players and coaches to improve their game.
Reports say that three players from every team will be using the specially designed bats.
In case you didn’t know...
Cricket has witnessed an upswing in the use of technology in order to improve the game. In the past few years, a flurry of analytical tools have come to the fore such as the Decision Review System (DRS), the ball-tracker, infra-red hotspot, spider-cam, hawk-eye and the ultra-edge. All of these assist the umpires in making an error-free decision.
The details
The International Cricket Council, in collaboration with their innovation partners Intel, has announced the use of chips-embedded bats to analyse the performance of the batsman.
Reportedly, the chip will be inserted in the handles of the bat and it will store bat movements, strokes and images which can all be accessed via a software on the computer. The batsman will be able to study their bat-swing pattern and their favourite shots with the help of the data stored in these chips.
The ICC claims to have introduced this idea in order to enhance the cricket experience. However, more information is yet to be disclosed about the chip.
Also, another development introduced is that the team sheets consisting of the playing XI for the game will on not be a physical one, instead the captains will sign and submit it on a tablet.
What’s next?
The ICC Champions Trophy will be taking the centre-stage from June 1st and the bats will be put into use from the very same day.
India will be playing their first game against Pakistan scheduled on the 4th of June.
Author’s take
Cricket is turning into what can be called ‘Smart Cricket’. Science and technology are working wonders as more and more innovative ideas are coming to light in order to improve the game.
The newly crafted bat could be an advancement that should be very useful for one to correct his/her errors. This is the first time such a thing is being used in the sport.