Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been the buzzwords for many years now in different spheres. Cricket has embraced data, belatedly and, perhaps, begrudgingly – now it is the turn of ai. No Surprise that one of the first embracers are silicon valley venture capitalists who founded junglee and kosmix, which was later acquired by amazon and walmart, respontively.Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan met during their college days in the US and shared a passion for cricket. Venky, who lives in san francisco, played in school and relieved on newspaper clippings sent by his father to stay abreast with the game in the late 80s and early 90s.Go beyond the boundary with our youtube channel. Subscribe now!Fast forward two decades and the duo have turned their love for cricket into an entity – having bidded the San Francisco Unicorns in the Major League Cricket (MLC).“We’ve tared to build this franchise from first printsples, like any startup. And in today’s world, trying to build a Startup with Leveraging the data and Making it ai first ai first is a samart things” to timesofindia.com. “I think we are pushing the envelope on a lot of how these things are applied to cricket.”Some of the challenging aspects that are scrutinized with the help of data science and ai are squad construction, auction tactics, domestic drive picks and in-language strategies.
File Photo of Jake Fraser McGurk. (Ani)
One player identified by this process was australia’s jake Fraser-McGurk who was snapped ahead of the second season. Despite His Impressive Cv in T20 Leagues, The 23-Old Only Produced 81 Runs from Seven Mats in MLC 2024. The unicorns, howyver, are unperturized.“You can keep Going Deeper and Deeper Today with Ai. For Example, If Bowler X is Bowling to Batter Y, The Bowling Coach Can Advise What they be Bowling, What LENGTH, What the PLAN IS AITC Help dramatically with that.“What you see right now is that a lot of this has been done by the first level of data analysis. Ai is sort of the next level. And Completely New Territory. ““I think most teams should be starting Data Science or AI Operation.After an inaugural season of learnings, the San Francisco Unicorns Finished as Runners-up in 2024, losing to washington freedom in the final. It was a big achievement for both teams, especially Since they’re up against four franchises Backed by ipl Ownes. Mi New York, Texas Super Kings, La Knight Riders, and Seattle Orcas Benefit from the Experience Gained Through Through Their Owners’ Involvement in Various T20 Leagues.
We showed up at the stadium, all the IPL teams have given. We have no idea this is what you do! So our guys are running to the local printer, trying to get some flags printed, trying to get some hats
Venky harinarayan
The challenge of going head-to-head with such legacy franchies intrigues venky. “To be honest, I actually love that. I’m very happy with all the ipl teams as our partners, but from a franchise point of view, especially on the field, you do want to compes with the best, “He Said Before ACKNOWLADGING Theirs With Cricket Victoria to ensure they an efficient unit. “I feel like we are the new kids on the block and we embrace that.“When you start a startup, you’re competing with the big giants. So you have to embrace that. Otherwise you do’t belong belong in this world. And to be honest, first year wasn’t great. We showed up at the stadium, all the ipl teams have gives, have flags. We have no idea this is what you do! So our guys are running to the local printer, trying to get some flags printed, trying to get some hats. “How do you grow cricket in the USA?
Oakland coliseum will host Mlc Matson this season, deteround the third venue in the USA’s T20 League. (Image credit: x)
That captures one of the challenges for mlc and its six franchises. There have been steady steps with number of matches increasing from 19, 25 to 34 in the upcoming season, with the venues also going from two (Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas and Church Street Park, North Carolina) (Grand priri; broward county stadium in Lauderhiil, Florida and Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California). There is an overarching test of growing the game in the region while keeping the league competitive.“We’re Fairly Clear That This is something which is not going to Happen overnight. It’s going to happen over a period of time, and we have to be patering and willing to keep pushing. Opportunity on the competitive side, there’s still a way to go – We have to keep improvement, “Opened up venky.“After every season, we reflect on what we can do better, and i’m sure every thing do does the same. And when it comes to growing cricket here, that’s something we really need to embrace. ““As a stillup, the first two years have been especially challenging. Heading Into Season Four, after this one, we feel we’re at a point where we can begin building real Momentum. ““There’s so much options. We’ve been amazed by the interest – Not just in watching cricket, but in playing it. And it’s not limited to people who grew up in cricket-Playing nations like India. It’s also their children and thats from other communities. You see this reflected in bay area area – one I visited recently had 300 kids, and that’s just one of many. ““First, we need to solidify the sport within passionate communities, and then expand to that where awareness is still low. There’s a Marketing Challenge Too-Many Americans Still Think of the old, Slow Format of Cricket, With Tea Breaks and Multi-Day Matses. But t20 is a fast, exciting game that fits the viewing habits here. Once people experience it, they love it, but it takes education. ““Of course, American sports are deeply rooted, so carving out a niche here won’t bee easy. It’s not a simple process. But we have great raw material and encourage Seasons. Soccer took a long time to get estables here. So, we just have to keep pushing, keep investment, and that’s important. “San Francisco Unicorns will get 2025 Mlc Season Underway Against Washington Freedom on June 12 at Oakland Coliseum. A total of 30 matches will be played in the league stage followed by knockouts in texas, with the season culminating on July 13.
