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Freebowler: Cheteshwar Pujara tests Made-in-India bowling machine in Bengaluru

Freebowler Superthrower was invented by Bengaluru's Pratheek Palanethra, who is very passionate about cricket. Freebowler bowling machine was recently tested by India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Freebowler is one of its kind

By Aprameya .C

Bengaluru: India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who guided Saurashtra to the Ranji Trophy final with a gutsy unbeaten hundred in the semi-final against Karnataka, tested the Freebowler Superthrower bowling machine recently in Bengaluru. Soon after the Ranji Trophy semi-final victory at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on January 28, Pujara experienced how Freebowler works. Freebowler is one of its kind non-electric and portable bowling machine. Pujara felt the machine can challenge batsmen with real cricket ball being used. India batting legend Rahul Dravid, opening batsman KL Rahul, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, all-rounder Vijay Shankar, Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan and several other cricketers have tested Freebowler and given positive feedback.

Freebowler was invented by Bengaluru's Pratheek Palanethra, who is very passionate about cricket. "Even though it was ideated and conceptualised in the US, but it was fully built and industrialised for commercialisation here in India. So I would proudly say it's a 'Made in India' product, if not for India we wouldn't have been able to bulit elsewhere," a proud Pratheek told Newsable.

According to Pratheek, "It's very compact, just weighs around 26 kg and is 40 inches in length, which is about the size of a cricket kit, so that it fits in the car trunk and can be taken around anywhere with less hassles. It's also capable of throwing any and all types of cricket balls, more specifically real cricket balls with natural variations. From a price point perspective, it's currently made available at around Rs 30,000 which is almost 1/4-1/5th the price of the current electric bowling machines."