Kumble Feels Cricket Will Be More Technology Dependent In Future

Cricket will be more dependent on technology and data intelligence going into the future, believes former India captain Anil Kumble.

"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," the Punjab Kings head coach said while addressing at a webinar titled 'Building Competitive Advantage through Sports Analytics and Data Intelligence' on Monday.

"Also, the fact about players' acceptance of being a part of this innovation, otherwise you will be left behind," added the stalwart who has a staggering 619 Test wickets from 132 matches.

"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 the simple way'. Yes, that's the simple way, but then I think, if you don't sort of adapt to technology that's coming in and use the technology for the good of the game, I think people will be left behind."

The 50-year-old former chief coach of Team India also said 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,

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"So as the game gets shorter, the dependence on data is far more in putting together a squad, strategies, match-ups, we keep talking about match-ups and that's how you sort of building a strategy around teams, so that will only be the driving factor," he added.