Virat Kohli & AI driving T20 World Cup 2022?

Adarsh looks into broadcast innovations that are taking the World T20 viewing experience to the next level for cricket fans watching from home

When Virat Kohli faced the formidable Pakistani team in an impossible-to-win match scenario during India’s high-octane first match, something else faced the ball for the first time: Artificial Intelligence. For the first time in the T20 World Cup, fans got to see exactly what Virat saw thanks to immersive 360-degree visualization of the field from live data fed by ICC into an AI system.  

Even as Virat continued his form Down Under in India’s thrilling win over Bangladesh in the rain-hit encounter at Adelaide, AI and the other high-tech innovations at the World T20 weren’t far behind King Kohli.

So, what’s new at this edition?

Technological innovation is the name of the game as far as the future of sports viewing is concerned. And the World T20 that is currently underway in Australia, broadcasters and sponsors are leaving no stones unturned to ensure that fans are getting the best deal as they cheer their team from the comfort of their homes.

Digital model of the stadium is embedded to showcase fielding placements, wagon wheels, scoring area percentages and countless statistics. Not just that, technology which produces the illusion that presenters are teleporting between the ground and the studio is being attempted.

Spearheading this mission is Star Lab, Disney Star’s Research and Development team, that looks into innovations in developing technologies. In the lead up to the tournament, they had announced a host of new features ahead of this year’s IPL and refined versions of those are available during the World T20 as well.

Follow On

Topping that list of features is Disney + Hotstar’s newly launched ‘Follow On’, a special video feed for freemium users. Along with live scores, insights and expert opinions, it gives viewers an immersive real-time account of the match. Subscribed users can also access it but for freemium users, the broadcast switches to Follow On, once their free sampling of the live cricket match expires.

Apart from statistics, there is a lot of insightful analysis with graphics and visuals in Hindi by noted commentators including Sunil Vaidya, Sanjaya Banerjee, Raman Bhanot, Vineet Garg, Naveen Srivastava, Reema Malhotra, Ajay Mehra, Padmajeet Sehrawat and Manoj Sharma.

Talking about the launch of Follow On, a spokesperson for the company said: “Disney+ Hotstar has always delivered the best-in-class live sports experience in India. With Follow On, we’re raising the bar by democratizing access to premium cricket entertainment by providing a real-time account of the cricket action to all users – including our freemium viewers.”

“Ever Disney+ Hotstar user is valuable to us and we constantly strive to deliver innovation that helps users engage deeper with our platform. We look forward to tolling out Follow On to users, which will further bolster Disney+ Hotstar’s position as the one-stop-shop for cricketainment.”

Dolby Atmos

Earlier this year, during the IPL season, the broadcasters in association with American audio equipment company Dolby had launched Dolby Atmos. Using multi-dimensional sounds with incredible clarity, it brought the electric atmosphere of the stadium to fans watching from home. This allows the fans who couldn’t make it to the stadium to hear details that have never before been heard during live sporting action.

Mixed Reality Analysis

With the use of data-driven Hawkeye graphics through a mixed reality headset, sports presenters are able to experience and visualize on-field situations, giving them a completely new perspective on the things they have been analyzing. In a manner of speaking, it allows them to experience the live action as if they themselves are involved. This technology is a first in the world of sports broadcasting and the proprietary technology was developed in-house by Star Lab.

Cricko

Another feature that continues to exist is the popular robot statisstant Cricko, a huge database of cricket facts and figures which ensures that analysts are always equipped with the most up-to-date and in-depth statistics to share with audiences.

Stump Cam

Last but definitely not least is Thums Up’s ‘Watch the World Cup from the Stump Cam’ campaign. With Coca Cola being one of the sponsors of the event, the ICC has granted them exclusive permission to broadcast the match like never before.

Thums Up uses a digital-first multi-tech approach that lets users scan a QR code from the bottle that allows them to watch ‘toofani’ moments of the match straight from the pitch. While the stump cam has existed for quite some time now, it was always a part of the live broadcast.

This new feature allows fans to access it at will. The campaign’s TVC features ads with pace sensations Jasprit Bumrah, Umran Malik and Brett Lee.

Bumrah was quite thrilled about the feature: “It’s exciting to bring to cricket lovers and fans the brand’s new offering Stump Cam which will enable them to access thrilling cricketing content from a never-seen-before angle, straight from the pitch and get closer to the game.”

With India’s World Cup campaign gaining momentum with another win, this time against Bangladesh, these exciting tech features are making the World T20 all the more exciting.

What are new tech innovations that you would like to see at the next World Cup or IPL? Let us know in the comments section.

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