Rollers in cricket (Photo: PTI)
Heavy Roller and Light Roller in Cricket: Roller is important for cricket pitch. This roller is seen running on the pitch before the match and in the mid-innings, i.e. after a team’s batting ends. According to the playing conditions of ICC, the batting team has the right to choose the roller. Whether this roller will be heavy or light also depends on the batting team. Before the start of Gujarat Titans’ run chase in Qualifier 2, a heavy roller was used on the New Chandigarh pitch, which had such an impact on the match that Rajasthan Royals lost even after scoring 214 runs. Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag has described heavy roller as a major reason for the victory of Gujarat Titans.
Heavy Roller made batting easy for GT – Ryan
According to Riyan Parag, the target of 215 runs set by his team Rajasthan Royals was defendable. But, it seems that the heavy roller in the mid-innings made the pitch easy for batting, which benefited Gujarat Titans. There is nothing wrong in what Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag said. You will come to know about this when you will know about the effect of heavy roller after running on a common pitch.
What is a heavy roller and how does it affect the match?
The weight of heavy roller ranges from 1500 kg to 2500 kg. When the heavy roller moves, it presses the pitch to full depth. It flattens the cracks and reduces bounce, which reduces the support for the bowlers on the pitch and makes it easier for the batsmen to bat. To reduce the uneven bounce present in the pitch or to neutralize the seam movement for some time, the batting team chooses heavy roller.
Due to the operation of heavy rollers, the soil of the pitch becomes hard and even the spinners do not get any help on it. Riyan Parag had also said after the match that the amount of help the spinners were getting in the first innings was not seen in the second innings.
How is a light roller different from a heavy roller?
Now the question is how is a light roller different from a heavy roller? So as the name suggests, Lite means light. The weight of light roller ranges from 500 kg to 1000 kg. It is used to make minor improvements in pitch and to smooth out minor cracks. It smoothens the surface of the wicket. Even when the pitch is soft, a light roller is used. It does not affect the depth of soil on the pitch.
The work of the batsmen is not as easy when the light roller is running as it is when the heavy roller is running. After the operation of the light roller, there is help for the bowlers in the pitch. When teams do not want much change in the originality of the pitch, they ask for a lighter roller.
History of Rollers
Heavy rollers were very important in the 1930s, which had to be pulled by the groundsman. Such rollers are still present at many cricket venues. By the way, now manual rollers have been replaced by motorized rollers on most of the cricket grounds. Roller plays an important role in every format of cricket. But, its importance is more in Test cricket.
Who chooses the roller in the match?
According to ICC Rule 10(a), during a match, the pitch may be rolled at the request of the captain of the batting team. Rule 10(c) states that if more than one roller is available, the captain of the batting team will decide which roller is to be used.
