TIRED of repeated accusations of match fixing, the Board of Control for Cricket in India decides to drop all member of the team and recruit talented mathematicians instead. "At least they will play calculated shots and take calculated risks," says the board President. "They are brilliant at calculating the required run rate and converting singles into twos, I have studied their works," says the loudmouth General Secretary of the board.

This is the third day of the test match. Chandrashekhar, a talented South Zone allrounder, is breathless. He has made a good run from the scoreboard to the pavilion. He approaches his South Zone team mate and captain of the team, Srinivas Ramanujan. "We are chasing 884 and our score is 231 for 9. Do something, there is a big difference between 884 and 231," he says.

"Don’t be a fool Chandra, there is no difference," says Sri. "Howzzatt?" says Chandra. "Take any three-digit number, whether 231 or 884, and multiply it by seven, then by 11 and then by 13," says Sri. "The numbers gets repeated in both cases (231231 and 884884)," says Chandra, "you must be right, there is no difference and no reason to panic."

Sri spots a worried-looking J.C. Bose, India’s opening batsman from Bengal, in a corner of the pavilion. The team mates have nicknamed him Atom because his contribution to the score is often little, but vital. "What is bothering you Atom?" says Sri. "My first test at Lords, which is next month. I don’t want another Bosonic score for myself," says Bose.

"I have some psychic powers that can predict your score," says Sri, "show me the calendar for the next month." The calendar is quickly produced before him:

. . 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

Sri says, "Atom, now draw a 3x3 box around any nine of the numbers on the calendar. If I am able to tell in a second what the nine numbers add up to, that will be your score at Lords." Bose knows how long it takes anyone to check the answer on a calculator. "He better be good or I am doomed," he prays to God. He chooses the following numbers as Sri concentrates:

. . 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

"They add up to 198," Sri replies within a fraction of a second. There is a sign of relief on Bose’s face and Sri knows that the trick has worked. He has only looked at the number in the middle and multiplied it by 9 (The middle number is 22 and 22x9=198). There is no magic, he only wants Bose to play with confidence.

"I also want to know what the team will score in this match," says Bose. "We have 20 wickets in every test match, so to find out what you want to know, draw a 5x4 box around any 20 of the numbers on the calendar of this month," says the captain of India. Bose selects the following box:

. 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 27 28 29 30 31

"They add up to 290," the reply comes within nanoseconds, "that will be our score here." It is also not a trick. Sri has just added together the smallest and the largest numbers in the group and multiplied the answer by 10 (the smallest number is 2 and the largest is 27, so, 2+27=29 and 29x10=290). If the calendar month is February, it will not be possible to put a box around 20 numbers and Sri knows it.

Chandra gets suspicious. "I have placed a bet for Rs 10,000 on the opposition for this match. The bookies give you different odds for a team. If your odds are 2/1 and you win, you get back twice your bet plus your stake. Obviously, longer odds like 3/1 pay more, but you are less likely to win. The opposition’s odds in this match are 1/1, so I have placed a bet on them."

"Did you say 1/1," Chandra says, "isn’t that a 100 per cent chance of winning?" "Sure," says Sri. "How did you know that the opposition was going to win or that India would score 290?" Chandra says.

"It is fixed," says Sri. "You will get caught," says Chandra. "Drop it. I am a mathematician and I know how to cover up my tracks. Many experts know the conclusions that I have reached in my theories, but no one knows how I got there," says the captain and retires.

— Aditya Rishi