LED Stumps used in World Cup, cost Rs 50 Lakh Per Match

We all know that Indian skipper MS Dhoni has a habit of collecting stumps and bails as ‘souvenirs’ whenever India win a match. However, in this World Cup, he won’t be allowed to do so. It was evident when Dhoni tried to collect the bails after India defeated Pakistan by 76 runs at Adelaide. However, umpire Ian Gould prevented from doing it.

The reason behind this was the highly expensive touch-sensitive and blinking LED stumps being used in 2015 World Cup. The stumps cost USD 40,000 (Rs 24 lakh) and the pair of bails costs as much as an iPhone 5 (Rs 50,000 approx). A set of Stumps and Bails cost Rs 25 lakh. That means, the total cost would be Rs 50 lakh per match, as two sets are being used in a match.

Eckermann is the inventor of the LED stumps. He, along with David Leigitwood as a commercial partner, formed Zing International and sold his idea to Cricket Australia during 2013 ‘Big Bash’. ICC introduced it first during 2013 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as an experiment and it got good, positive responses.

The LED stumps, which are touch-sensitive, blink whenever the bails get whipped off. They help the Umpires and Third Umpire to take the right decision. Eckermann confessed that he is very much worried about Lasith Malinga’s deadly yorkers, which could break the stumps into two pieces. It took almost three years of research from Eckermann to give his dream a clear shape.