A bat with the cutting 'edge'

The Indian batsmen's slack technique may have led to another embarrassing series defeat abroad, but here is an interesting innovation that can change all that

Imagine Gautam Gambhir or Virat Kohli not getting caught behind the stumps against a seaming delivery on the first morning of a Test match. Given their abysmal form in the Test series against England, that seems a distant reality. But things might change for the Indian top order if they start using the Falcon Blade, a bat designed by Mumbai-based innovation firm Humming Whale. The innovation start-up, spearheaded by a group of engineers from IIT Bombay, was started in 2013. Its master creation, the Falcon Blade Bat, considerably reduces the chances of a batsman's edge flying to a fielder behind the stumps.

The idea for the bat came to the young innovators after India was whitewashed in two successive Test tours abroad in 2011, first by England and then by Australia "The Indian batsmen were tormented by the English and Australian fast bowlers. Most of them were caught either by the wicket-keeper or in the slip cordon. That's when the idea for the Falcon Blade came up," says Mirik Gogri, co-founder of Humming Whale.

What Gogri's team realised was that when a bat meets the ball, there is no downward force involved. To ensure that the ball doesn't always carry to the slips, they modified the edges of the blade, thereby adding a greater downward force on impact. This modification changes the trajectory of the ball after hitting the edge in such a way that the chances of getting caught out, specifically behind the stumps, significantly reduce. "We started working on the model in March 2012. The bat was first tested by our own cricket team at IIT Bombay, and then by coaches and players at Shivaji Park. They liked it very much," says Gogri proudly.

However, local players were reluctant to use the bat since they were apprehensive about its legality. Humming Whale got the model of the bat ratified by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in December last year. "MCC was impressed with our design, and we had no real problems in getting it approved."

The most striking feature of the Falcon Blade is that a batsman doesn't have to alter his game in order to use it. Unlike the Mongoose Bat, which had a longer handle and smaller blade, getting accustomed to the Falcon Blade is not at all difficult. "You don't have to change your batting style for the Falcon. We can transform any bat into a Falcon Blade. Also, the Mongoose bat was primarily for T20 cricket. The Falcon is fit for all formats," says Gogri. The bat packs all the features a batsman seeks in a limited-overs game. The pressure at the front face of the bat is lower in case of the Falcon Blade as compared to a normal bat, thus ensuring better stroke play. Its unique aerodynamic design ensures greater bat speed. Also, due to the reduction of the edges, the bat is not too bulky to handle. A player who likes more weight on the bat, for example Mahendra Singh Dhoni, can add some weight to the meat of the bat if he wants greater power.

The bat will be given for testing to the Indian team once they return from England. "I'm sure the Indian team will like the bat. We haven't compromised on the features of a normal bat. We've just added something more, which makes it better," says Gogri. Initially, the bat was seen merely as an innovation, and the Humming Whale team was uncertain about its usage in an actual game. But with MCC's approval and the favourable reviews that the new willow has received, Gogri plans to make it a commercial success too. "We actually haven't thought of any selling strategy. But if we get good buyers for our design, we may be interested in selling it," he says.