IPL Meets Interviews: Cricket Pitch Becomes a Consulting Case!

It’s IPL season — a time when cricket takes over every screen and conversation. For consulting aspirants, though, it’s always interview prep season. But what happens when the two worlds collide?

Meet Shakti Kumar (name changed), a second-year student at one of the IIMs, preparing to crack a top consulting job. In a mock interview, his passion for cricket turned into a quirky yet classic consulting guesstimate.

Our mentor Anshul Mehrotra quickly delved into evaluating problem solving after a brief intro!

The Guesstimate Conversation: From Pitch to Precision

Anshul: So, you said you’re interested in sports — which ones?

Student: Both cricket and football, sir.

Anshul: Perfect. Let’s go with cricket. Can you estimate how many cricket balls placed side by side would fit on a cricket pitch?

Student: Sir, I remember the pitch is 22 yards long, but I’m not sure about converting that to meters. Also, I don’t recall the exact size of a cricket ball.

Anshul:No problem. Let’s take the pitch as 20 meters long and 3 meters wide. The ball — assume a diameter of 3 inches.

Student: Okay, just a minute to gather my thoughts.

(Pauses, does some rough math)

Student: So… that’s 20 × 3 meters = 60 square meters… and 3 inches diameter…

Anshul: Yes, go with 3 inches diameter.

Student: Alright. I’ll convert the measurements to centimeters —
20 m = 2000 cm, 3 m = 300 cm.
Now for the ball — 1 inch = 2.5 cm, so 3 inches = 7.5 cm diameter.

Anshul: Good. Walk me through what next

Student (first mistake): So, total area is 600000 square centimeters…Area of each ball is πr2, which is 3.14X7.5X7.5 square cm. Which is….

Anshul: You are complicating this. Tell me what is the flaw in this approach?

Student: We have the total area of pitch and we have area of each ball. Once we divide, we will know the total number of balls on the pitch….

Anshul : Whats the flaw? Why don’t you draw the picture and then you will realise.

Student : Drawing the pic…

Student : Aah, there are gaps between each ball, and that area does not get covered – hence balls will be lesser.

Anshul : Yes. So what was my question ? Can you estimate how many cricket balls placed side by side would fit on a cricket pitch? Focus on the linear arrangement of balls.

Student : Aah ok. Along the width: 300 cm ÷ 7.5 cm = 40 balls. Now the length: 2000 cm ÷ 7.5 cm = approximately 267 balls.

Anshul: So what’s your final estimate?

Student: 267 × 40 = 10,680 cricket balls can fit side by side on a cricket pitch.

Anshul: Correct. Always think from first principles, rather than a formula or framework. With that kind of a practice, you can solve any problem.

Consulting Prep Takeaway

Guesstimates aren’t about getting the perfect number — they’re about how you structure your thoughts, respond to corrections, and communicate under pressure.

Shakti Kumar’s ability to bounce back from errors, question assumptions, and explain his thought process is what made this a winning attempt — not just the final number.

You need to first understand the approach of solving guesstimates and then practice interviews to gain confidence.

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