Anil Kumble, Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee talks to the media at a press conference to announce the shortlists for the LG ICC Awards 2014 at the ICC Headquarters in Dubai Sports City on Nov. 5, 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Francois Nel/Getty Images
SportTechie’s new series features the views and opinions of the athletes who use and are powered by technology. As part of this series, SportTechie chatted to ICC Hall of Fame Indian cricketer Anil Kumble at the Hotstar CricFest event on Oct. 13 in San Francisco to find out how technology affected his career, and how it may affect the future of cricket.
Anil Kumble, aka “Jumbo,” is arguably the best bowler to have ever played for India. The right-handed, leg-spin bowler’s 619 wickets in his 18-year international Test cricket career ranks him third all-time in the world, and he is one of only two players to have taken all 10 wickets in a single Test match innings. He was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian honor, Padma Shri, in 2005, and inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
After fully retiring from playing in 2011, Kumble was named chief mentor to the Indian Premier League’s Royal Challengers Bangalore team, and later held the same role with the Mumbai Indians. He also served as coach of the Indian cricket team from 2016 to 2017, and has chaired the ICC’s cricket committee since 2012.
Kumble has recently been working with Microsoft to develop a sticker-like sensor, called Power Bat, that can be attached to a cricket bat to determine various metrics about hitting power and technique. The device, produced by Kumble’s company Spektacom, made its debut in the Tamil Nadu Premier League this summer and might soon be used in bigger competitions, such as the IPL.
The Effect of Television
“The first time that I watched cricket on television was when India won the World Cup for the first time, 1983. I think it’s still very vivid in my memory about our captain then, Kapil Dev, holding the World Cup trophy at the Lords balcony. I think that’s something that is really etched in all our memories growing up. And that was the starting point for all of us. From there on I think television has changed the way the sport is watched, followed, and you know today you have many more heroes than not just the players who are playing for India.”
“It’s changed the way that cricket is looked at. Starting from no television when I first came in, you would sporadically see a few matches—not necessarily every live event—to now every game being either watched live on television or streamed through other platforms. Cricket today is very accessible.”
Innovation in Sports
“I think it’s all our responsibility as well. It’s not just the administrators, it’s not just the broadcasters, it’s not just the people who are running the game. It’s not their responsibility. I think it’s also the responsibility of the players to innovate, to be a part of the innovation, because that’s where the world is moving. You know everybody wants something on their device at some point in time, and it’s the responsibility of all of us who are part of the game. And for me as a player, as long as it was non-intrusive, and [did] not really hamper the way you are batting or bowling or doing anything on the field, then I think all players are open to these kinds of innovations.”
Spektacom’s Power Bat Sensor
“I started a company called Spektacom about a year ago, where we are partnering Microsoft who are helping us with the AI platform. We’ve built a sensor based technology which is a small sticker that goes behind the bat and in realtime we’re able to generate the power of the shot, impact quality, and also the speed of the bat. All these parameters are really critical because as of right now we don’t have any of those parameters coming in for a broadcast. Star is our partner, so it’s wonderful to bring in that kind of technology, which is realtime, and also engage the audience and get them deeper involved into the game to understand the nuances of batsmanship.”
“Maybe in a few months time it will be available for anybody to pick up and put it on their bat. And then I also feel that when you are talking about your heroes, you want to idolize them, you want to copy their style of play. That’s what happens. Whereas here it will also give you not just copying the style, copying the stance, or copying the way he hits a shot, but also probably his bat speed, his power, his technique … You’ll probably be able to rectify, or identify, and use that in your game.”
Audience Engagement Through Data
“We’ve built this technology in such a way that it goes into the Azure cloud and then down in realtime. It’s not necessarily that you need to be watching a screen for you to know exactly what’s happening. It can come onto your mobile phone. And if you’re watching a match on Hotstar and as soon as the batsman hits the ball, you get the power score of that immediately. And even if you’re not watching it, if you’re actually sitting in the stadium and watching the game, it could still come onto your mobile phone as soon as it hits.”
“And everybody, even if they’re watching a live game, they’re still constantly looking at their device and doing something. Either taking selfies and putting it up on the social media or engaging with somebody else. This is something you can bring in through technology. How can you engage the fan much closer and deeper into what is happening in the game?”
“I’ve been a commentator. How can we get realtime data and stats on your fingertips rather than just waiting for it? Because sometimes storytelling is not just about creating a story and throwing it up at a later stage, but when the action is happening.”
(Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Coaching Insight
“As a batsmen you are constantly taught to hit the sweet spot. That’s how you grow up playing. Some players do that. Some players use a lot of muscle, use a lot of power. What is the optimum to achieve and then probably use? There’s not much data. Once you have enough data that comes out of the technology, then it’s a lot easier for you to then characterize batsmen. Currently you are only characterizing batsmen as a right-hander or a left-hander.”
“You also probably get to make better informed decisions. That’s something the data helps. Not all players, coaches are data driven. It all depends on how much you can consume and how you can probably assimilate all of that and make sure you can only provide what is relevant to that particular player. At the end of it most players look at it as skill and feeling rather than data.”
“This helps understand the player better, and sometimes even validates what he thinks he’s doing. If someone’s saying ‘Look, I’m hitting the ball well, but I’m not getting runs,’ you need validation for that. This gives you validation … Sometimes you’re out of form, you’re in form. Those kind of validations are extremely critical for a player.”
Growing the Sport of Cricket
“How do you get an American kid to pick up the cricket bat and then say you know what, hit this with a ball? Currently what happens [is] he or she may get bored. But you say ‘You know what? You use this bat, as soon as you hit something comes up on your phone.’ And that’s a great way to engage a kid. Because all of us like these innovations. And it’s like a gamification of the game itself, in realtime. Not necessarily as an experience, but in realtime.”
“This’ll certainly engage kids to get on to playing the game itself. Once you get hooked on. And you start enjoying what you’re experiencing, then I think there’ll be more and more kids taking up this sport.”
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