Anil Kumble: Cricket will be more dependent on technology in the near future

Former Indian skipper Anil Kumble believes cricket will be more dependent on technology and "date intelligence" in the near future. Kumble used the example of DRS, pointing out how it has been a game-changer in the game's decision-making process.

The Punjab Kings head coach, Kumble, was speaking at a webinar titled 'Building Competitive Advantage through Sports Analytics and Data Intelligence', organised by Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai with Deakin University South Asia.

"There is the influence of DRS (Decision Review System) already in cricket and I am sure there will be more technological influence on decision making as we go along. Also the fact about players' acceptance of being a part of this innovation, otherwise you will be left behind," said Kumble.

The legendary spinner, who picked up a staggering 619 Test wickets from 132 matches for India, insisted that while the debate is welcome, he personally feels that embracing technology will be for the greater good. "I know this, we are still sort of having that debate over, is this too much technology in sport or should I just go back to my own belief that "ok I just watch the ball, hit the ball, that's a simple way. Yes, that's a simple way, but then I think, if you don't sort of adapt to technology that's coming in and used the technology for the good of the game, I think people will be left behind," the former India head coach added further.

Kumble, who finished his First-Class career with an incredible 1,136 wickets in 244 matches, also explained that as we move onto the OTT (over the top) platforms, more technology will come into the sport.

"I don't see just the broadcasters influencing technology in the sport but even the federations will start looking at innovative ways of bringing in technology into the sport," the 50-over former cricketer said.

"Because all these years, it is been TV and broadcasters, who pushed these innovations, which is great for the game and as we move into other OTT platforms, there will be more technology coming into the sport and that to me will be the biggest change that I see going forward," added Kumble.

Kumble, who hails from Karnataka, also feels that the shorter the game like T20 or The Hundred, the greater will be the influence of data intelligence.

"The dependence on data will be a lot more, because in a short game, as the format sort of gets shorter, from Test cricket, we have come to ODI cricket, then it is T20 now, then there is (The) Hundred. So as the game gets shorter, the dependence on data is far far more in putting together a squad, strategies, match-ups, we keep talking about match-ups and that's how you sort of build a strategy around teams, so that will only be the driving factor," Kumble said.