Bowling machines raking moolah in IPL season

Hyderabad:

It is not just the television broadcaster whose cash registers are ringing this IPL season. With cricket academies and many a cricket enthusiast wanting a bowling machine to hone batting skills, the only company in the country to manufacture the bowling machines has taken quite a Karbonn Kamaal catch.

At the M L Jaisimha Academy in Hyderabad, Chandu is learning to negotiate the wares of a Shane Warne and a Brett Lee off consecutive deliveries. Courtesy this state-of-the-art bowling machine that has all the tricks of the trade to fox a batsman. Manufacturing these machines is a Hyderabad-based company, the only one of its kind in the country.

Our bowling machine replicates a real bowler. Rather it is a bunch of bowlers. It can change line and length, can give any speed, swing and spin,'' P.V.Parthasarathi, CEO of Leverage Sports Technologies said.

With the Indian Premier League on, it is raining orders for these machines in this cricket-crazy country. Parthasarathi's company sold 200 machines last year and expects to sell five times that number this year.

Every IPL season gives us 50 per cent jump in sales. And World Cup is the World Cup. We are expecting a further jump of 300 to 400 per cent in sales,'' Parthasarathi added.

Technicians at this unit churn out 10 machines everyday. The cost depends on the number of features you need. The cheapest comes for 50000 rupees and the costliest at 12 lakh rupees.

It is not just cricket academies but even individuals who are practising to emulate a Dhoni or a Yuvraj Singh, with the help of these bowling machines installed in their backyard.