Pro Kabaddi League: How Sports Analytics Is Turning Out To Be A Game Changer

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In a world wherein, countless private leagues have flooded the sporting landscape with competitions across formats and fields all over the world, they have not only provided new opportunities for those who operate on the field but also off it, and that includes those who are busy in number crunching.

Sports analytics have become an indispensable part of not just IPL and international cricket as well as the various T20 and T10 leagues, it has also made deep inroads into a game as traditional as Kabaddi.

Largely a "desi" Indian sport, kabaddi has seen a multifold rise in the last decade not just primarily because of the backing and support it has got from the broadcaster in Star Sports, but it also has touched unprecedented heights because of being open to modern ways of playing the same traditional sport.

This growth has not just provided players an opportunity to compete in a competition unique to its nature, while attracting talent from around the world, but also enabled them to take home hefty pay cheques.

The Pro Kabaddi League, which began in 2014, is now the only league after the Indian Premier League to have recorded 1,000 games in its history. While it has thrived on backing from the country's largest broadcaster, it has made the most of the rapidly changing world.

A largely traditional sport has embraced the demands of how modern-day sports are run and managed, how technology has become an unavoidable feature in the functioning and growth of every private sports league not just in India but around the world and PKL is one of the best examples of it.

Coaches have largely been very traditional and as has been the game but there is no dearth in sports analytics getting to the depth of finding information and relaying them across to players who are not only from the nook and corner of the country but also from other parts of the world.

Used during both auctions and strategies, sports analytics data in PKL has made it impossible for both the coaching staff as well as the players to operate without it.

A sports data analyst, whose job is to enlighten their teams with information that earlier they would not know existed.

From picking out small margins of errors in the opposition camps and players to enabling their own players with specific inputs to work on, sports analytics have made it possible for the players in the PKL to remain on top of the game and as this whole process has proved, remain even ahead of the competition.

Analytics have changed the mindset of players as it has exposed their and their opponent's weaknesses to a great extent while also giving them a steady diet of coaching beyond the coaches - their playing styles and approaches have had a huge impact.

Players are increasingly becoming addicted to analytics and want to be updated on a daily basis as to what is happening with their game as well as with their opponents.

For example, as the recent seasons have progressed, teams across the PKL have realised that winning matches not only hinges on how well they attack; defending is equally important and at times, more crucial than going on the offensive.

One of the biggest impacts made by analytics has been on super tackle situations while thinking tanks of various teams have spent hours at a stretch to determine the right match-ups.

In this scenario, those defending would have studied hours of footage provided by video analysts on the raider, picking out his weaknesses and ensuring they have the right personnel in place - for a right-handed raider there would be a left-handed operator to ensure valuable time and points aren't lost.

And if you are thinking that the role of the analysts is restricted to only during preparation for the matches and during live action, you could be wrong, as during the off-season they are in the hunting mode to spot upcoming new talent for the PKL team.

The analysts travel extensively to spot young players and signal their respective teams towards them, for the management to take the final call in terms of roping in the players, and developing them further. Another part of their job is also to keep an eye on the functioning of the rival teams, trying their best to gather information while aiming to keep their own teams ahead in the race.

By - Devarchit, Parimatch sports analytics expert