IIT Kanpur invents physics formula for deadly 'reverse swing' in cricket

The Indian Institute of technology (IIT) Kanpur has finally solved the physics behind once Pakistan’s one-man powerhouse Imran Khan deadly ‘in-dippers’ or reverse swing. The new physics formula for swing, if adopted by the BCCI and Indian Coaches, may help the Indian pace battery to produce Imran Khan like results.

Professor Sanjay Mittal and his two students Ravi Shakya and Rahul Despande of the Institute’s Aerospace department were conducting a series of research to unravel the mystery behind different swings by pacers on the cfricket pitch.

After research on run-up, bowling action, technique, delivery etc of different well known swing pacers in the world, the research team connected the swing on the pitch in their laboratory with formula of physics.

As per the new physics formula they invented for swing, they found that four conditions are required for any pacer to deliver any kind of swing. They are angle of the seam of the ball, speed, rough surface of the ball / pitch and weather conditions.

During they research they found that there was direct connection between the angle of the seam of the ball and speed to deliver deadly reverse swing. It was easier for medium pacers to generate revisers swing (in-dipper) than fast bowlers due to roughness of the ball and pitch.

Prof Mittal claimed that it was easier for any pacer (medium or fast) to deliver a reverse swing by applying a simple formula of physics and changing his action at the final delivery of the ball. He claimed that if a pacer delivers the ball by turning the seam 20 degree downward with a pace of 30 to 119 kms/hor speed, he gets the maximum swing, depending upon the weather conditions.

The Professor and his team claimed that if the ball is bowled at the speecd between 119 and 125 kms/our, the bowler with this formula can get reverse swing in the first trajectory and natural swing in the other, which is often called late swing in cricket. Imran Khan was famous for this kind of reverse swing, which used to be called his deadly in-dippers.

They also studied the connection between surface / roughness of the ball and swing and found that rough surface of the ball / pitch help medium pacers with speed of 20 and 70 kms to produce natural swing while pacers throwing the ball at the speed 79 to 140 kms/hour and above gets reverse swing if they knew the physics behind producing swings.

Ball tampering cases are due to this reason when a pacer tries to make the ball surface rough with his nails or using some pointed objects to bring down the thickness of the ball by one mm. This condition of the ball helps pacers generate more swings than the usual ball.

Swings are better produced in cold conditions than heat. It is due to this reason pacers always prefers playing matches in winters than summers. They came to conclusion after studying the success story of Saurav Ganguly  ‘dada’ in wintry conditions of England where bowled medium pace and claimed many wickets. He, however, was not successful back home in Kolkotta and Delhi.

After inventing the physics formula for swing, the Aerospace department research team plans to do its trial on the pitch with real pacers before offering it to the BCCI and Indian coaches training new generation of pacers for the Indian Cricket team