“Can we clone five Bumrahs or something?" - Former India coach's hilarious take on using AI in cricket

Former Indian cricketer and coach Rahul Dravid spoke about using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cricket. He made an interesting take about using technology, asking if five clones of pacer Jasprit Bumrah could be made using the same.

However, Dravid said that he would not want such a technology as it would take away the 'fun' and 'uniqueness' from the game of cricket. However, the former Indian coach is optimistic about using technology (AI and data analysis) to help with aspects such as injury prediction without taking away the human element.

“Can we clone five Bumrahs or something? I mean, I’m just saying that, but that wouldn’t be fun either, right? I mean, what would be the fun in that, right? Where’s the uniqueness then?," Dravid was quoted as saying by PTI.

He added that sports should be left alone and AI must not get involved in sports to ensure uniqueness and human element. The former coach also mentioned that Bumrah is unique because it is difficult to do what he does.

“I think maybe leave sport alone for a bit and we don’t want to get AI too involved in sport. There’s got to be that human element to it. There’s got to be a level of uniqueness to sport. So, that would be my wish really that we’d never get to a point where we are… It becomes easy. Bumrah is unique because it’s so hard to do what Bumrah does."

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Rahul Dravid opens up on how AI can be used in cricket

While calling for a balanced approach, Rahul Dravid also spoke about how AI can be used in cricket. He is hopeful that AI can help predict injuries as there is no solid answer as to why people pick up a stress fracture for example.

“On the sporting field, one of the things that you are really hopeful about what AI might be able to do, is (to predict) injuries," he said.

Dravid added that despite sports medicine and science being present, predicting these injuries has been a challenge in cricket.

“You just look at the level of injuries that we have and no one really has a perfect answer as to why people pick up stress fractures and there is no one size fits all; I am just using a stress fracture for the back as an example for fast bowlers. You have seen over the last years so much of data, so much of sports medicine, science and stuff going into it but no one being able to really predict that, that’s sad, that’s (about) people’s careers, lives. So if AI can get us there and we will be able to predict injuries."