Ever since Punjab’s Arshdeep Singh snapped the middle stump into two on two separate occasions during an Indian T20 League 2023 match against Mumbai, a common question on several fans’ minds has been how much money do the broken stumps cost?
Amidst the high-octane and action-packed environment that is synonymous with the Indian T20 League, the glitz and glamour that comes with the best-in-class technology in the game doesn’t go unnoticed.
Whether it is Ultraedge, Decision Review System (DRS) or Hawk-Eye, it’s worth noting that all of these innovations have elevated the game in their own way.
Similarly LED stumps are another cricketing innovation that adds another layer of excitement and intrigue to the contest at hand.
In essence, an LED stump flashes or lights up whenever it is touched, disturbed or one of the bails is removed from its groove.
These LED stumps have a microprocessor attached to each of the bails with the aim of detecting any separation between bails and stumps by illuminating them within a thousandth of a second.
As per reports, the cost of the LED stumps last season for a set of three was INR 30 lakh per set. With that in mind, let’s have a look at what is Indian T20 League stumps price 2024.
Indian T20 League stumps price 2024
While the exact amount of Indian T20 League stumps price 2024 is difficult to gauge, it is believed that a complete LED set of three wickets, including the bails ranges between INR 8 lakh to 30 lakh.
During Indian T20 League 2022, the BCCI entered into a contract with Zing International Pte Ltd for an amount of INR 2.184 crore.
Overall, 74 matches were played in 2022 and the cost of the stumps for each of those games can be rounded off at around INR 2.95 lakh. Meanwhile, the LED bails utilised in Indian T20 League may independently cost around INR 50,000.
Now while the price may seem a bit steep, it’s worth mentioning that arriving at correct decisions with the help of LED stumps makes it worth the price.
A few more caveats while assessing the price of these LED stumps include dependencies such as the wicket’s advanced sensor systems, its level of technology, its design and the company.
As we factor in the dependencies mentioned above coupled with high-quality wood that is durable enough to resist the force of powerful balls, and it’s easier to comprehend why these LED stumps cost as much as they do.
Furthermore, another interesting fact worth noting is that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doesn’t buy these stumps.
In the past, the BCCI have been known to enter into contracts with companies to lease a full wicket set - including bails and the electronic base - for the whole season.
All things considered, while one cannot deny that technology and innovations come at a price, it is also true that such advancements in the game enable better decision-making, which means these innovations are here to stay regardless of the cost.
Photo credit: Alamy
