BODYLINE:THE FIRST SHIFT FROM GENTLEMANLY CRICKET

 

Since its first known game in the year 1706, cricket has undergone plethora of  transformations, reinventing itself and constantly evolving. The changes range from bowlers pitching the ball instead of rolling after 1960s, (which was reciprocated with changes in bat design from a hockey-stick shaped bat to straighter ones) to the introduction of 'power surge' and 'Bash boost' in the Big Bash league'21. Though they have their own importance in the evolution of the game, a tactic/event/controversy has withstood the test of time even after 90 years ;causing strain in multilateral relations, vandalism, shunning of immigrants, and business loss during its occurrence and, consequently ,changed the way the game was seen previously.

The body line or the fast leg theory was introduced in 1932-33 Ashes tour of Australia by English, spearheaded by Harold Larwood, to predominantly contain the adept batting skills of the Australian star batsman Sir Don Bradman(with a batting average of around 100). In the earlier Ashes Australia tour of England(1930), Bradman scored 974 runs with an a batting average of 139.14 runs, an aggregate record that still stands to this day. To put an end to the Bradman's batting spree, the English cricket team decided to devise particular tactics to curtail him in his own Australian pitch. They initially thought he was vulnerable to leg spin, while later the English skipper Douglas Jardine noticed through a video tape  that he had high discomfort in playing deliveries which bounced higher than usual at a faster pace particularly on the legside, being seen to consistently step back out of the line of the ball. As a result, a new type of leg theory bowling was born. ’The Bodyline’.

Leg theory

The leg theory, a precursor to the bodyline, is bowling in the line of attack-aims to cramp the batsman, making him play the ball with the bat close to the body. Before the 5-4(on-off side) restrictions were introduced, were any number of fielders can be placed on the ON-side, this tactic did wonders. For a leg theory spin ball, the concentration of fielders on the On-side made it difficult for the batsman to defend anywhere other than the On-side. As a result, being caught/trapped on the leg side was very common and seldom runs were made. This theory is still prevalent among leg spinners and is risky when bowled to skilful, patient and conservative batsman.

Bodyline-the art and the artists

Bodyline, the faster version of leg theory, involves tossing the cricket ball not only at the batsman's leg stump but also at the batsman's body. The batsman would be forced to hook or pull and most likely be caught at square leg or on the deep back side boundary. If defended it could go to a fielder standing close. Almost every fielder was on the leg side, with as many as six fielders in close proximity scoring runs became uphill. The third option was for the batsman to be struck by the ball and injured. There were no helmets or protective gear other than gloves and pads are worn at the time.

Surprisingly during the 1932-33 Ashes tour of Australia, The bodyline worked not only against Don Bradman but also against several other Australian players. Harold Jarwood,The star English bowler,fastest bowler of his generation and the prime executioner of Bodyline went on to take 33 wickets at an average of 19.51 with less than 3 runs per over. He got Bradman in four of his eight innings. Bradman's test average buckled to 56.57, the lowest of his career. In the later part of the series Jarwood’s bowling became extremely ferocious ,which physically injured the Aussies.The Aussie skipper, Bill Woodfull was struck by Jarwood’s thunderbolt on chest and Bert Oldfield, the wicketkeeper, was sustained a skull fracture by a bouncer. The English cricket won the series 4-1 and the series became forever etched in history as ‘The Bodyline series’.

Consequences outside the game

Outside of the sport, there were repercussions for Anglo-Australian relations due to the series, which remained tense until World War II compelled cooperation. As inhabitants of each country avoided goods manufactured in the other, business between the two countries suffered drastically. The English immigrants in Australia were shunned and visitors in both the countries were persecuted by the locals. Several statues of English Royal family were vandalised and numerous satirical cartoons and skits  were made mostly in Australia. Surprisingly, after the second world war(1946-48), Australian team captained by Don Bradman was first among the teams to extensively use short pitched bodyline bowling.

Rules that made bodyline less effective

Bodyline bowling is still allowed and equally challenging to play and is regarded a legitimate bowling strategy when employed sparingly. But, Several Cricket Laws have been amended throughout time to make the bodyline tactic less effective. The rules include 5-4 fielding restriction(On-off),only two bouncers per over in Tests ,one per over in one-day internationals, and one per over in Twenty - 20 internationals and Law 41 of ICC rule book to suspend bowler for intimidatory short balls.

Bodyline in recent times-India tour of Australia(Jan 2021)

The India tour of Australia(Jan 2021) ,especially the Brisbane test, saw several bodylines from Australian bowlers. The thunderbolts were targeted specifically to Chateswar pujara from Pat Cummins, Josh Hazzlewood and Mitchell starc. During that innings, Pujara copped a total of 11 blows on his body, and was hit multiple times on the head, hand and abdomen. Yet his gritty batting at Brisbane Test was in a different league and was instrumental in taking India to a win.

                                                             About the writer

    

B J K RAJKUMAR

Pursuing PGDM at IMT,Hyderabad

A constantly evolving person, writes about Geo-politics and Sports.

 

Impact of Global Semiconductor Chip Shortage

 

Almost every business on the planet is being impacted by the global chip shortage. Consumers are already seeing it directly as planned gadgets and appliances are delayed or in short supply — but they may become much more frustrated when tech's promises of an AI-powered future fall short due to a lack of hardware to operate it on. However, hardware isn't the only method to make these powerful machine learning technologies work.

Over the last few years, demand for chips of all sizes and powers has steadily increased, and supply has mainly been able to keep up until the current production problem. To give you a sense of the scope of this somewhat complicated tech sector problem, cutting-edge smartphones and servers aren't the only goods affected by the scarcity. A wide range of consumer products wearables - smart watches, home automation technology, and automobiles, to mention a few — have lately been updated to "smart" status and will be impacted as a result.

The Current Chip Shortage Solutions

The tech industry has already begun to take significant steps to address the shortfall. The obvious thing to take is to invest in existing and new chip production facilities, which most businesses are already doing. Covid-19, on the other hand, has disrupted the supply networks that would keep these plants functioning at normal rates, let alone the expanded ones required to meet demand.

In reaction to market instability and political constraints, China's reliable suppliers have stockpiled and limited their exports, and efforts to make the United States and others more self-sufficient in electronics production are nowhere near fulfilment. To put it another way, while investment is necessary to keep the global chip market afloat, it is insufficient to narrow the gap in the short term.

A more promising strategy is to accommodate older chip technology, both in terms of production and engineering. When new model inventory runs out, you might consider turning to used automobiles. "Used" semiconductor equipment here refers to manufacturing capacity from past chip generations that is no longer cutting-edge but is certainly better than nothing.

Because of the large demand for used equipment during the pandemic, device manufacturers are working on new devices that utilize older chips. This has already helped to mitigate the effects of the scarcity, but it's a desperate effort for an industry that, like a shark, must always go forward or perish.

Meanwhile, billions of people use tens of billions of gadgets every day, all of whom may benefit from a more immediate answer: a software solution to a hardware scarcity.

Software Solutions: Smart Compression and Compilation

Unlike hardware, software can be deployed globally at the rate required to maintain the industry's promises of AI-powered cameras, speech and face recognition, augmented reality, and other technologies on track. Until date, the industry has been unable to deploy software as a solution to the chip scarcity and to develop AI models on edge computing devices due to inefficiency.

When it comes to machine learning, efficient compression and compilation are about much more than reducing download sizes. It's critical to analyze what aspects of a working model are crucial to its outcomes in order to lessen the size and power needs of that model. As a result, smart compression entails "pruning" the model by deleting layers, filters, or channels without compromising its accuracy. It also entails "quantization," or reducing precision to save calculation cycles.

Compilation converts the compressed model's high-level operations to the low-level operations supported by a chip's architecture.

The problem is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for completing these critical tasks. A machine learning model’s complexity must be compressed and assembled with the target environment in mind. After all, a common chip can be found in a smartphone, a home automation device, and a scientific equipment, all of which run distinct operating systems.

The efficiency gains from adapting the compression-compilation design to the exact architecture on which a model is meant to operate can be considerable. Furthermore, popular devices already in the hands of customers can give the real-time AI experience that developers have been pursuing and touting for years. Models ranging from natural language to selfie filters can operate natively faster than they could on specialized hardware, requiring only a regular app install from the user. As a result, the next generation of AI can be implemented without the need for multibillion-dollar infrastructure investments.

For at least the next three years, there will be a chip shortage. But that doesn't rule out the possibility of an AI-powered future. Software-based solutions have helped us get to this stage in machine learning applications, and they may help us go much further if we use them correctly.

ABOUT THE WRITER

A keen observer, love to read geopolitics and investment strategies, writes on the impact of the global semiconductor chip shortage.

Covid Crisis: An Opportunity in Disguise

 

"Every problem is an opportunity in disguise."

                                         - John Adams

As mentioned above by a remarkable political philosopher, John Adams, the quote holds true when the Indian entrepreneurs and companies turned the covid-19 pandemic into an opportunity and sustained in these unprecedented times. Firms in large numbers have experienced losses, a few have exited the market, but only the visionaries have revamped their businesses to use this as an opportunity and sky-rocketed their business with innovative ideas. Implementing new business ideas amidst covid-19 and considering this crisis as an opportunity is easier said than done- but not for RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. 

"I firmly believe that a crisis is too precious to be wasted. Every crisis presents an opportunity for new growth, and India has faced the Covid crisis with enormous resilience and resolve," Ambani said during an event on December 15.

 

It is no secret that in the last two years, the demand for polyester swabs for RTPCR tests to detect the presence of the virus, and for a matter of fact, the need for alcohol-based hand sanitisers has all increased multifold. As a result, Indian entrepreneurs have stepped-up and altered their business strategies to meet the rising demand for these products. 

 

Polyester swabs for RTPCR tests by Suparshva Swabs:

According to the ICMR report on May 11, 2021, India conducted 18-20 lakh RTPCR tests each day to detect the covid-19 virus. For hospitals to perform these tests on such a large scale, they required "polyester swabs." The matter of concern was that until March 2020, there was no manufacturing of polyester swabs in the country, and these swabs were being imported from the US or China, which were ten times more expensive. However, the Indian company "Suparshva Swabs," which manufactures cotton buds under the brand Tulips, is now the first to develop polyester swabs in India for covid-19 testing at just one-tenth of the imported price. 

Suparshva Swabs has revamped its production to meet the national need for covid-19 tests and now manufactures more than 30 million units a week. The company claims it can alone meet the entire country's demand for polyester swabs for covid-19 testing. To help the country fight the pandemic, this company looked at the brighter side of the problem to find a solution. 

 

Hand Sanitizers by Asian Paints and ITC:

At the peak of the pandemic, the demand for alcohol-based hand sanitisers outstripped supply. During this time, many Indian companies forayed into sanitiser production to meet the rising demand. Many unusual players have been new entrants in this hygiene market to seize the opportunity created by the covid-19 crisis. 

Indian multinational paint company, Asian paints started manufacturing hand and surface sanitisers under the brand' Viroprotek'. The company recognized the potential triggered by the pandemic in this segment and launched a line of products for home sanitation. Another Indian company that started the production of sanitisers under its already existing brand Savlon is ITC Limited. ITC recognized that hand sanitiser was a necessity and repurposed its Himachal Pradesh perfume manufacturing facility to manufacture sanitisers. As a result of these new entrants and many other players, the industry estimates that the domestic hand sanitiser market will increase five times in size to 300 crores. 

 

Successful businesses like ITC, Asian Paints, and Suparshva Swabs could sustain these tough times because of their robust business strategy and never-give-up attitude. A crisis like covid allows individuals with entrepreneurial skills to identify incredible opportunities and pave their way to success. It all boils down to an individual level on how they seek new opportunities and create successful business stories for generations to follow.  

Until then, stay open to new opportunities coming your way because great opportunities never have "great opportunity" in the subject line!

ABOUT THE WRITER

Sanjana Nahata

Pursuing PGDM at IMT Hyderabad

An ambitious and result-oriented person, keen on self-learning finance and financial management writes about opportunities in the Covid crisis.