Artificial Intelligence is the new buzz in the global market, and the sports industry has started using the tool. Driven by data collection and science, it can help scout players, and predict their performance by gauging trigger points. Indian sports stakeholders understand the importance of statistics, but now they are even considering the physiological and psychological reading of athletes for supreme performance in every discipline.

Finding talent through AI

Former Tamil Nadu cricketer Malolan Rangarajan, now the head of scouting at IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, used AI to unearth talent from the grassroots.

He discovered fast bowler Avinash Singh (Jammu & Kashmir) and leg-spinner Himanshu Sharma (Rajasthan) in RCB's Hinterland Scouting exercise with their AI partner. "Human eye is still the most dependable, but when competing with nine other teams, you innovate new ways to identify talent. You have to trust AI in the algorithms we build.

"We are a country of more than a billion people. It is impossible to find talent through the human eye by having scouts everywhere. Every IPL franchise now has its scouting team. It is no more like finding that one player because 95 per cent of the players are playing either domestic or U-19 or some tournament," Rangarajan tells Moneycontrol.

Hinterland scouting

While scouting, Rangarajan discovered talented players who could not play competitive cricket due to various pressures of life. "Why don't we create an opportunity for them?" he thought and entered AI as a trial to identify bowlers based on action.

Rangarajan is still researching what sort of action can result in what type of bowling. "A particular type of action can help in bowling the yorkers and also swing the ball. It can help find out speeds, and the potential is infinite.

"We will start future predictability and batting. I feel it will change the landscape of scouting talent. All you need is videos of players," he adds.

Use of AI in women's cricket

Rangarajan, also in charge of the franchise's Women's Premier League (WPL) wing, has asked for videos of bowlers to find one with a speed of 130 kmph. "The number that has never happened in women's sport, but what if we find one who can bowl 130? We want to push boundaries. More than making RCB win, there is a larger picture being a scout; that you are providing an opportunity," says Rangarajan, who is hopeful of finding champions in RCB women's pool in the long run.

AI, not everyone's go-to tool

Despite the omnipresence of AI there are experts who believe more in the human eye while scouting players.

AR Srikkanth, head of scouting at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), still goes by the age-old cricketing acumen to select players. "The last time in eight years, KKR has given many players who have gone on to represent India in various formats. If something is working for you, there is no need to reinvent and look for something new in the market just for the sake of it.

"Technology can enhance decision-making capability but it will not make the decision for you. I feel humans still have to make decisions, and technology will only support the decision-making capabilities," says Srikkanth, who was instrumental in identifying the talent of Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine to name a few.

Physiological mapping, the future

Renowned strength and conditioning coach Ramji Srinivasan believes AI is one of the best mediums to create longevity for an athlete.

He batted for data collection of an athlete on the individual level, from start to sleep, for smooth performance. "From training methodology, biomechanics, predicting injuries, recovery protocol to understanding the psychological aspects. It helps with pre-game strategies, in-game activities and tactical skills," says Srinivasan, who trained the Indian cricket team in the victorious World Cup in 2011.

"If there is a muscle imbalance from one side to the other, the probability of related injuries could be more. With AI, you can predict the load on the injured muscle," he adds.

The motion data of the players and the statistics of the matches are involved in the interpretations. The data points can be crunched to help the athlete read his performance better. "AI is always about learning and personalising with the athlete. Any data from the performance side of a player is crucial to set a baseline and then use analytic skills to understand the areas for improvement," says Teja Prakash Kakarla, the co-founder of Netrin Sports Technologies, which enhances the performance of athletes by enabling the coaches and trainers with technology components.

"We try to understand wellness as well as physical performance. We try to customise the training based on the baseline," he adds.

Mental imagery of the athlete

Karthik Raghavendran, the co-founder of Neurostellar, is working on a mental fitness platform by building a wearable device. "It can clock the athlete's brain activities, heart and respiratory rates, and over a while, it provides insights on their relaxation, stress and focus levels from all these metrics. It gives neurofeedback training, too. It can make them aware of what is happening in their body. It will help them to train their brain better," he says.

The wearable band will aim to make a difference in alternative sports such as table tennis, golf, archery and shooting. "It's in the range of Rs 25,000-30,000 and a one-time cost for the headband. We charge on a subscription basis for personalised reports, wellness coaches and other premium features," adds Raghavendran, confirming that table tennis legend Sharath Kamal recently had a session with the gear.

With the help of Machine Learning, AI can personalise diet plans with athletes based on their situations; before or after a match day. And it is, perhaps, here to stay to make a sports person's life easier to some extent.