India vs Bangladesh: A “Hands On” preview

Shikhar Dhawan has been a surprise package for India at the World Cup and will look to do the same again on Thursday. (Source: AP)

Legendary cricket author CLR James had once famously remarked “What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?” Inspired, we decided to take a totally different look to the India-Bangladesh match. And, inspired by our tech brethren, adopted a ‘hands on’ approach. (Full Coverage| Points table| Fixtures)

As India and Bangladesh prepare to face off in the quarter finals, we decide to take a different look at the contest by going ‘hands on’ with the two teams, in best gadget tradition. So where do the two teams stand at the end of it all? Read on for the most geeky preview of a cricket match ever (oh yes, we need to toot our own trumpets – that’s what you do when you do exclusive hands on reviews/previews/post mortems/etc.)

Appearance

Which team is better in appearance and layout really boils down to your personal tastes. The Indian cricket team has some stand out features like Shikhar Dhawan’s moustache (twirlable) and the stubbles on Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni (shaveable). The blue uniform is not distinct but has its loyalists that even claim to bleed blue. The Bangladesh team on the other hand is more compactly designed, and its red and green appearance cannot surely be confused with any other. However, by and large we can see more people flocking to the Indian side in terms of appearance – at least one Bollywood star already has.

Hardware

Although both teams The Indian team clearly has the edge here as it is driven by two quad core processors – a high class one in the batting (Kohli, Dhawan, Rahane and Raina) and a slightly lower class one in bowling (Shami, Sharma, Yadav and Ashwin), and comes with a staggering 1 TB of MSD RAM, along with multi-tasking muscle in the form of Jadeja and Binny. Bangladesh on the other hand have to rely on a quad core processor (Mahmudullah, Rahim, Hossain and Mortaza), and relies on 1 GB SAH (Shakib Al Hasan) RAM to give it multi-tasking muscle. While Bangladesh has the hardware to pull off a surprise, in terms of sheer consistency, the Indian team is better equipped in this regard, and barring a crash, should do better. There is no doubt that the audio quality of the Indian team is discernibly superior in terms of volume, particularly in those moments when Virat Kohli is at the crease. In terms of benchmarks, the Indian team is capable of a Squadrant TuTu score of 400 plus, while the Bangladesh team is at a more modest 300 on the average.

Software

You can have all the design and spec sheet muscle that you want, but it is of little use if not allied with the right tactical and strategic software. In this regard, we think the Bangladesh team has the upper hand as it tries to do more with fewer resources. The Indian team’s UI is built around its quad core batting processor with the MSD RAM to back it up. It is among the best when it works but can get horribly buggy when it crashes. All things being equal, once again, the Indian team is better endowed here, but its bugginess renders it vulnerable – as happened in 2007. Attempts are being made to iron out the bugs by adopting a no-return policy in case of trophies (“We won’t give it back”) but this is a work in progress, and well, we live in uncertain times.

Performance

In terms of legacy and history, the Indian team is a better performer than Bangladesh, which is a new player at this level. However, all the promotions and hype around it can put a lot of pressure on the hardware, which can result in occasional crashes and reboots. Bangladesh on the other hand has significantly inferior hardware but more stable software, which result in performances that are more consistent and predictable (so what if they tend to lose more consistently than they win).

Value for money

Going by the IPL auction prices, the Indian team is a high-end proposition, while Bangladesh is more of a value for money one. The overall performance expectations from both are therefore rather different – while nothing less than a cutting edge performance will satisfy those investing emotionally in the Indian team, those who opt for the Bangladesh side will be even content with edges and cuts provided they get wickets or boundaries. It is a simple matter – those investing in the Indian team have greater opportunity for victory but thanks to its somewhat buggy-under-pressure software, leave themselves exposed to massive disappointment. Those investing in the Bangladesh might not get the same level of high-end performance, but are also likely to be less prone to disappointments.

Conclusion

Based on our hands on preview of the quarter final, we must say that on paper, the Indian team comes with markedly better hardware and design. However, expectations and pressure do make it buggy in terms of performance. Bangladesh do not have the same level of hardware muscle but could score in terms of UI and software, if they catch the Indian team on a buggy day. But as of now, we have to say that the Indian team start favourites to reach the last four.

Source:: Indian Express