Whatever players do or perform on the field, their actions are guided by the feedback he (or she) gets from the backroom staff. The men who record and analyse the performance of a player. It is the backroom staff that come up with necessary information in form of charts and videos showing weakness and strengths of a player as well as opposition.
Their importance has increased in past few years due to development in the technology and now opposition team can easily analyse weakness and strengths of a player by using the latest techniques.
Sportzwiki caught up with Shrinivas Chandrasekaran, the performance analyst of Sunrisers Hyderabad – the defending champions of Indian Premier League (IPL) where he opened about the role of a performance analyst and also his experience of working with top players.
Here are some excerpts from the interview –
SC Stands For Shrinivas Chandrasekaran.
SW: You were part of defending champions SRH support staff last year. Give us some insights about working with top cricketers like Yuvraj Singh and David Warner.
SC: It’s a completely different experience altogether, to be honest as these people have played cricket for a long time successfully. It’s like, you don’t have to tell much about them. It’s just about brushing them and going through stuff like talking with them about the opposition. What needs to be done or some changes that we noticed or any player noticed. And Warner since he is the captain, so we have a great rapport with him about team strategies and what needs to be done and what bowling changes are important for a particular batsman.
He might think of bringing a left arm spinner, so I come up with all stats based on that so, through this, he gets an idea about how a particular bowler can be used against a batsman at a given stage. For rest is like, its all depends as these people have played cricket for a long time, so they know a lot of things but it’s just like again, you give them confirmation stating that this is how things can be done.
SW: What all software are required in the field?
SC: This is like. you need an app to basically record and code a game so that you record each and every ball. Plus, every ball is being coded and making player of waggon wheels, shot zone and everything so that you get a detailed information about a particular batter and what all is happening in the game and all those things. So you need a software to code a game basically and decode it into minor details.
SW: What is the advancement that has taken place Software – wise so far; from the time you started working in the profession?
SC: Yes, we have grown ahead. 2013 was the time when this team came in. So we have grown as a team and every year it goes by. We are building our strengths and Sunrisers Hyderabad is one of the constant teams and our team binding is great where we have calmness in our camp and in the dressing room with likes of VVS Laxman, Tom Moody and Muttiah Muralitharan. We have had one of the constant teams in five years of Sunrisers.
SW: How can a one become sports performance analyst in India?
SC: It’s just about, you should have the love for the game.
SW: What is the best thing about your job?
SC: You get to interact with top cricketers, you get to learn a lot from them because their might be a situation when you might think that things can be done in a different way but they are on the field. They understand the game better because you are sitting 120 meters away. So, you get to learn a lot from them and this is the best part if you work with top cricketers like David Warner, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh and so many greats. So that’s always an advantage of working with a team as an analyst.
SW: What are the three things required to become a performance analyst?
SC: First is to read the game well. Second, to understand the situation what is happening. See one is a pre-planned thing which you do as an observation and second is like what’s all happening at the current situation and then make plans to go ahead. And the third thing is the love for the game and you have to passionate about what you are doing.
SW: One of the memorable moments you would like to share, your biggest achievement in this field?
SC: It would be winning IPL. Each and every trophy which I have been part of is big for me whether it is Ranji trophy or Vijay Hazare but if I have to pick one, then it IPL has to be one of the biggest trophy and toughest tournament to win.
SW: Your job is behind the camera and it is the players who get the spotlight and praise at the en of the day. So do you think that the role of a performance analyst is undermined?
SC: No, not that as at the end of the day, whatever you say players have to go there and execute. The most critical part is the execution, they do the toughest part. You just tell them and don’t mind to be behind the scene as long as they are performing.
SW: Who has been your favourite player to work with as a performance analyst?
SC: There are a lot of players but my favourite would be Kane Williamson, David Warner and Yuvraj Singh. So these are very close. It’s tough to pick one. So I would rather say that I am happy with it that we have a good bunch of players. I am always happy with working with whoever the player is.
SW: What are the chances of Sunrisers Hyderabad retaining the cup?
SC: There are plenty of positives. We will try and do our best to try and retain the cup. One thing we can do from our side is to work hard and try and put effort and also entertain people.