LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi and founding Vice Chancellor Information Technology University of Punjab (ITU) Dr Umar Saif have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to use Insights – a unique match analysis and scoring facility developed free of cost by ITU for upcoming edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) and domestic matches in Pakistan including Quaid-e-Azam trophy and Pakistan Cup.
The system has been developed by project lead Talha Rehmani and his team with input and guidance from cricket experts like Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed. Detailed evaluation sessions were conducted with these mentors and PCB support staff such as analysts, scorers, trainers and other coaches.
Speaking on the occasion, PCB chief Sethi said: "I am thankful to Dr Saif and his team for their outstanding work. We understand the importance of modern technology and it's value for cricket both at the highest and grassroots levels. I am hopeful that this platform will help us compete better at the international level and more importantly in the analysis of the skills of our players in their developmental phase."
Dr Umar Saif, who is PITB chairman and advisor to CM Punjab, said: "It’s a huge step towards digitization of cricket in the country and I hope that the platform helps Pakistan cricket especially since we are set to become the pioneers of providing such a facility at the grassroot level."
He said: “Insights is an expert player profiling system developed by research team from Information Technology University, Lahore, Pakistan (ITU) for the PCB. The system contains a parallel scoring application, both on web and android, where the scores for the matches with the minutest details are entered using just an android tablet which makes it very cost effective. The scorer can enter lots of additional information alongside scores like field placement, pitch and weather information, ball pitch spot, swing & height estimation and toss information.
“The system can be used simultaneously by two users for entering the details of a same match to cover it with greater precision, i.e. a scorer can add scores whereas an analyst can add pitch and field information etc. User can also enter in details happenings of every delivery e.g. if a four was hit, user can select, from a prepopulated list, the shot name, if the players timed it or it was a mishit. Similarly, the details of a batter’s dismissal, a run, a dot, or a six, all different types of scoring events can be recorded just in few clicks. Dr Umar said the data collected, both of matches and individuals, is then further used to draw both concrete and soft analytical results.
“This can be a major tool to track the performance of a player from grass root level to the top, identify weak and strong areas for batters, identify the trends and factors affecting the bowling performance of every individual bowler, work on the improvements of his flaws and team selection. E.g. if the system identifies that a player is good against spin, he can be selected to play in spin friendly conditions. On the flip side, if a player is found weak against spin, remedy work can be started,” he added.