Innovation's the name of the game

(Appeared in Playing11.com)

To help their teams win, cricketers need to innovate so as to be able to spring surprises on the opposition and leave them unsettled.

This World Cup will be unique because this time it’s not just the teams and players who will introduce innovations, but even the organizers, the International Cricket Council, has gotten into the act.

This will be the first World Cup to have the controversial Decision Review System (DRS). While there is some controversy over the accuracy of the video referral system, it will add another dimension to the game.

Of course there are problems with the technology, but that’s the case with even most Microsoft products. Do we stop using them while waiting for the company to come out with an improved version of the software? No.

The implementation of DRS will reduce human error and allow more matches to be decided by talent and not chance or luck.

The ICC’s decision to carry forward the ‘Super Over’ concept from the T20 format is also interesting. Given how much the 50-over format has been affected by the shorter version of the game, it was inevitable.

Though, it seems unlikely that the ‘Super Over’ will come in play, it will surely get the fans ‘Super Excited’. After all, everybody loves a heart attack. Don’t we? Because that’s what fans get when a ‘super over’ is underway. It’s fun and even the anticipation increases the thrill factor of the game.

But leaving the ICC’s innovations aside, the cricketers themselves will also have a whole new bag of tricks to be one-up on the competition.

South Africa have a ‘secret weapon’: Imran Tahir. Here’s a player who has played a whole lot of cricket, including some in conditions that will mimic the playing conditions during the World Cup. But he hasn’t played a single ODI, with the Proteas deciding to hide him from the touring Indian team as well. Proteas skipper Graeme Smith called it a “tactical decision” to not play the Pakistan-born leg-spinner. Now, let’s see if this ‘secret weapon’ destroys the opposition or implodes due to lack of international exposure.

Australian pacer Brett Lee too has a new weapon in his already powerful arsenal: a slower-ball bouncer. On the slow tracks of the Indian sub-continent bowlers have to dig really deep into the armoury to outfox the batsmen and if used accurately the slower-ball bouncer may just leave the batters swiping air.

The bowlers will have other weaponry too to give the battle of the wits against the batsmen on the flat placid tracks with the ‘Carrom Ball’ or ‘doosra’ being deployed at strategic times to leave the batters in no man’s land. And only if these innovations work will the World Cup see a fair and equal fight.

But the batsmen aren’t ones to keep quiet and they too will unleash their own set of weapons like the ‘Switch Hit’, invented by Englishman Kevin Pietersen, the ‘Reserve Sweep’, favoured by another Englishman Eoin Morgan, and the Dilscoop, invented by Tilakaratne Dilshan but now used by all and sundry. And of course, there’s the shot favoured by India’s cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar: the cut over-the-slips.

With both sets of players ready to let loose their weapons, it doesn’t matter who wins. For ultimately, it will be the viewers who will win in this battle of wits.