PCB -ITU signs MoU to use Insights

Lahore : Chairman PCB Najam Sethi and Dr. Umar Saif founding Vice Chancellor Information Technology University of the Punjab (ITU) 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 HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Domestic matches in Pakistan including Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Pakistan Cup, etc.

The system has been developed by project lead Talha Rehmani and his team with input and guidance from cricket experts like Inzamam ul Haq, legendary Pakistan batsman and current chief selector of Pakistan cricket team, and Mushtaq Ahmed, head coach of National Cricket academy.

Detailed evaluation sessions were conducted with these mentors and PCB support staff such as analysts, scorers, trainers and other coaches.

Speaking on the occasion Chairman PCB Mr. Najam Sethi said: “I am thankful to Dr. Saif and his team for their outstanding work, PCB understands the importance of modern technology and it’s value for cricket both at the highest and grassroot 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.”

Chairman PITB and Advisor to CM Punjab Dr. Umar Saif said: “Its 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.”

About Insights Software:

Insights is an expert player profiling system developed by research team from Information Technology University, Lahore, Pakistan (ITU) for Pakistan Cricket Board (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. Below are some screens from the mobile front end.

The main landing screen, the field placing screen, the scoring screen with the scoring shots pop up and the pitch screen to indicate where ball was pitched and the height of the ball in comparison to batter

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.