Aakash Chopra to advice cricket enthusiasts on picking the right willow in his maiden entrepreneurial venture

Aakash Chopra joins hands with Z-Bat as a co-founder to promote innovative bespoke bat making

Mumbai, July 9: Having been a successful commentator, writer and a digital wizard, former India cricketer and batsman Aakash Chopra has now donned a new hat as he joined hands with two Mumbai cricket enthusiasts, Harshal Shah and Samir Shah, as the co-owner of country's first bespoke bat making sports-tech company, Z-Bat.

Conceptualised by Samir and Harshal and moulded by start-up pioneer G Ramachandran, Z-Bat is backed with experience, passion, innovation and solution for all cricket bat-related issues right from buying to repairing. The former Team India opener, who has been known to embrace new ideas ever since he hung up his bat, now takes on the new challenge of being an entrepreneur as he looks to change the way Indians think while buying cricket bats.

"Cricket is the most played sport in this country. It is surprising that so far, we didn't have any scientific method to determine the cricket bat that suits an individual. Wish I knew all these nuances during my playing days. When I heard the concept from Samir, I immediately saw the potential and how revolutionary the concept is," Chopra said.

"I truly believe Z-Bat will not only be able to enhance performances of budding cricketers with the correct evaluation of their bat, they can even help to avoid injury with unique body dynamics detection identifying the right balance of the player," Chopra said.

Despite the massive growth the game of cricket has had in recent years, there is no concrete process of choosing the right bat; most of the cricket enthusiasts buy a bat just out of feeling. But the launch of this innovative uni-gender, customised Z-Bat--backed by scientific algorithms and ICC approved sensor-based technology--will revolutionise the way people look at buying cricket bats.

"Undergoing meticulous research and study, there could be as many as 344 types of batters, in the age range of 8-80, we looked to incorporate new-age science and technology in making tailor-made bats. Today Z-Bats could be customised for openers, middle-order batsmen and tail-enders and also according to the condition of the pitch to get the best performance," said Harshal Shah, Founder Director of Z-Bat.

While cricket fanatics are introduced with this unique concept, Z-Bat is also empowering aspiring enthusiasts to become bat smiths and repair experts, as part of 'Made in India' initiative.

"Our goal has been to create a holistic solution ranging from buying, caring and repairing the bat. We are the only ones who have taken cricket bat caring to the next level by introducing bat wax for the first time which we make personally. Our online repair facility with pick-up and delivery of the bat is a unique concept that is fast catching up with people in Mumbai," said Samir Shah, one of the other founder Partners of Z-Bat.

A specialised 2200 sq ft Z-Bat Clinic in Parel, Mumbai, has already attracted scores of batters, ranging from young to old, looking to test and get their perfect bat since the launch last year in December. The company along with Aakash aims to establish such exclusive Z-Bat Clinics in other cities and abroad as well.

Source: Media Release