ESPNcricinfo has partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) to launch a data science based tool called ‘Superstats', which
uses Data Science & Machine Learning (ML) for the first time to analyse the game and give a context to every event in a game such as - luck index, forecaster and smart stats.
Researchers at IIT-Madras and Gyan Data Pvt Ltd, a company incubated at the institute, worked with cricket experts from ESPNcricinfo to create Superstats with the help of ESPNcricinfo’s rich ball-by-ball database. The database has more than 10 years of detailed data, and scientific methods, processes and complex algorithms based on machine learning.
The algorithms process accurate, fast data, quantify the impact of luck and analyze the real value of a player’s performance in the game of cricket in real time.
The 'Luck Index' metrics, which answers questions such as luckiest team and players, measures the quantum of luck by scoring various luck events that occur in a match such as toss, umpiring errors, dismissal of a no-ball and dropped catches. The data science algorithms play out different scenarios to evaluate the impact of luck events. Generalization of the impact of the luck events through an equivalent "runs potential" brings all these events to a common baseline.
While, the 'forecaster' metric functions as a prediction tool that provides win probability for the chasing team, likely score for the team that bats first, runs and wicket probability in the following over, for each bowler and so forth.
'Smart Stats' estimates the real value of a player's performance by taking into account the match context and opposition quality
Additionally, data-backed insights are used to estimate the 'real value' of individual player's performance.
Notably, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) work at IIT Madras is targeted towards several verticals such as fintech, manufacturing, smart city, biological systems engineering, and healthcare. And now, with Supertstats the institute has now forayed into sports analytics as well.
Source - Business Standard