The fever of the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) is now at its epitome as the tournament heads into the play-off stage and the craze can be clearly seen from the fact that it has now entered one of the most renowned engineering colleges of the country i.e the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
The students of the IIT Madras were recently asked in their End Semester exam to help Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni decide what should he opt for if he wins the toss during the first qualifier against Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.
In the exam of Material and Energy Balances which took place on the eve of the Qualifier 1, the students were given a hypothetical situation in which they need to consider the dew factor and make a judgment about the pitch before deciding whether Dhoni should opt for bat or ball.
The question consisted of details of the weather forecast and the temperature, with the students needing to answer and justify their reasoning in order to get points.
Taking to their official Twitter handle, the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a picture of the question and praised professor Vignesh Muthuvijayan of the Bio-Technology faculty for setting such paper.
The world's cricket governing body also asked the followers to help Dhoni make a decision before the toss of Qualifier 1.
"Shout out to Professor Vignesh at @iitmadras for making exams relevant to important, real-life issues! Can anyone help @msdhoni and @ChennaiIPL make a decision before the toss tomorrow? (and show your workings)," the ICC wrote.
The question, meanwhile, read, “Dew can play a major role in day-night matches. Excessive dew in the outfield makes the ball wet. For spinners, the challenge is to grip the wet ball and get it to impart spin. For fast bowlers, it is difficult to hit the desired length. Hence, this can put the fielding team at a disadvantage. During IPL 2019, Chennai Super Kings are likely to play a qualifier at Chepauk Stadium on May 7. As per the weather forecast on May 7, the relative humidity in Chennai is expected to be 70 per cent. The temperature at the start of the game is expected to be 39 degrees. At the beginning of the second innings, the temperature is expected to drop to 27 degrees. Based on this info, if Dhoni wins the toss would you recommend batting or fielding first. Justify your answer.”
Shout out to Professor Vignesh at @iitmadras for making exams relevant to important, real-life issues!
Can anyone help @msdhoni and @ChennaiIPL make a decision before the toss tomorrow? (and show your workings) pic.twitter.com/8fp7rGI5BG
— ICC (@ICC) May 6, 2019
Dhoni-led Chennai ended their round-robin stage of the IPL with a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Punjab at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium. They clinched nine wins from 14 games to settle for the second spot.
Mumbai, on the other hand, are heading into the match after registering a crushing nine-wicket victory over Kolkata in their last league match at the Wankhede Stadium.
Though Rohit's side too have same wins from 14 matches, they finished the league stage at the numero-uno spot because of a better net run-rate than Chennai.
The winner of the match will book his place in the final of the 2019 IPL, while the defeat will provide a second chance to the losing team in Qualifier 2 on May 10.
