Friday, April 4, 2014

Who can create more ‘impact’-India or South Africa ?


Does India hold the edge  today against the Proteas? Think again!
Castrol Activ Zip Factor throws all the archaic parameters for analyzing a T20 game out of the window. Here is how:

As the Friday evening sun sets in Dhaka, two contrasting teams will look to take a step closer to the ICC T20 trophy. The cricket analysts and pundits will call it a no-brainer to put the tag of ‘favourites’ on India. The Proteas neither have the form nor the past records in ICC tournament semi-finals to present their case. They have barely managed to win the last three wins with thin margins of 3, 6 and 2 runs. Meanwhile, their semi-final opponents have made quick work of all the teams they have faced in the tournament with an air of invincibility. Moreover, as the South African campaign shifts from Chittagong to Dhaka, they will be banking on their key players to do the trick in an unfamiliar territory.

All this hoopla about favourites and track record, however, is thrown out of the window in a T20 clash where lightening cameos and maiden overs can change the course of the match. The format of the T20 game is such that that just one impact player can play that jaw-dropping knock or bowl that astonishing spell and all the discussion about form and history becomes futile. This aspect of ‘impact’ is now captured by the new Zip factor Facebook App developed by Castrol Activ Scooter. .

This Zip Factor App is an uncomplicated way of measuring the impact of a player’s performances on the game.  In a format like T20, where the traditional factors like batting average and number of runs scored take a backseat, there was a compelling need to capture the ‘zip’ with which the game is played. Unlike a test or an ODI, a 6-ball 22 cameo is more impactful than a 40-ball 40. For every match played in the ICC T20 World Cup, Zip factor calculates the impact of each player using relevant parameters like strike rate and boundaries for batting, wicket and dot balls for bowling and run-outs and catches for fielding.
And it is so relevant in every bit of the logic the formula carries.

For instance, when a batsman plays an innings that has an immense impact on the game, does it even matter what credentials and CV he brought to the field that day? Does it matter how many runs he made if the pace of his runs was more important for the team? Obviously, no!

This is what the zip factor captures amazingly. It discounts all the things one has done in the past and calculates zip factor scores for a single day. A look at the table will tell the composition of impactful players in both the sides

Imran Tahir
58.42
Jean-Paul Duminy
51.78
Dale Steyn
50.42
Ravichandran Ashwin
49.67
Amit Mishra
48.09
Rohit Sharma
46.88
AB de Villiers
45.80
Virat Kohli
44.50
Ravindra Jadeja
37.21
David Miller
28.61

India might have had a dream run in the tournament but the top three dangerously influential players belong to South Africa. The 50+ zip factors of Steyn, Tahir and Duminy suggest that they are capable of winning the match single-handedly not because of the reputations and records they have built over the years, but simply because they have made most bearing on a single-match in the world cup.

The concept of analyzing a game is made simple by a elementary question the Zip factor app asks instead of many irrelevant ones- “What is the impact that player has in the game?”

To know more about this concept and check zip factors for every game in the World Cup, you can go here:
App: bit.ly/ZFapp

When the Proteas take the field against the men in blue, they might not have the upper hand in the books of history or might not have the odds in favour of them, but the zippy format of T20 will ensure that the semi-final will belong to the team who makes a better impact at the end of the day.


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