Cricket Pro Teams With Microsoft For A Bat That Can Track Analytics In Real-Time, And Send Them To Fans

Microsoft has partnered with Spektacom, a company in India that makes a sensor for cricket bats that can offer instant batting analysis. The sensor is the sticker on the bat with the name of Spektacom. (Courtesy of Microsoft)

Microsoft has partnered with Spektacom, an Indian company that is making a smart bat for cricketers.


Microsoft is teaming up with prominent Indian athlete Anil Kumble to launch a cricket bat that can track batting analysis in real time and send it directly to fans.

Kumble on Thursday announced the Power Bat, a bat equipped with a sensor connected to the Internet that communicates with a receiver buried in the cricket field and analyzes the data instantly.

The lightweight sticker placed on a bat is designed to be discreet for players but still powerful enough to capture data.

Eventually, the company of Microsoft and Kumble, Spektacom, hopes to expand the technology to other sports in India and the United States, said Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of business development at Microsoft.

She could be used in baseball, football or soccer and someday could include helmet analysis that could help detect and prevent concussions, she said.

The Power Bat sensor can detect the speed at impact, twist at impact and other analyzes. When a batter hits the ball, the small sticker affixed to the bat sends information to the receiver or "box of stumps", located behind the player and then to a station.

Soon, Spektacom's Power Bat will also send analysis to a mobile application so that fans in the stands can get information on their phones.

"It gives a new dimension to how the fan sees the game of cricket itself," said Kumble, who retired from playing professionally in 2012.

Kumble, who is a training engineer and one of the best cricketers in the country, said the technology will also be used to help players and coaches understand and modify the way batters play.

Spektacom has offices in Bangalore, India, in Microsoft's ScaleUp program, which helps launch new companies. The technology of the Indian company is based on Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service. Spektacom and Microsoft partnered with Indian station Star India to start sharing game analysis.