MLC: San Francisco unicorns are betting on AI to redefine the T20 cricket in the United States | Cricket news
Data and artificial intelligence (AI) have been fashionable words for many years now in different spheres. The cricket has adopted the data, late and, perhaps, reluctantly – now it is the turn of the AI. No wonder that one of the first embraces, the venture capital of Silicon Valley which founded Junglee and Kosmix, who were then acquired by Amazon and Walmart, respectively.Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan met during their college days in the United States and shared a passion for cricket. Venky, who lives in San Francisco, played at school and relied on the press clippings sent by his father to stay informed of the match in the late 80s and in the early 90s.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!Quick advance of two decades and the duo transformed their love for cricket into an entity – having given birth to the unicorns of San Francisco in the cricket of the Major League (MLC).“We have tried to build this franchise from the first principles, like any startup. And in today’s world, trying to build a startup without taking advantage of the data and first making it a smart thing to do,” Venky told Timesofindia.com. “I think we are pushing the limits on a large part of the way these things are applied to cricket.”Some of the difficult aspects that are examined using data science and AI are the construction of the squad, auction tactics, the choices of domestic project and the strategies at stake.
Jake Fraser McGurk file photo. (Ani)
A player identified by this process was Jake Fraser-McGurk in Australia who was broken before the second season. Despite his impressive CV in the T20 leagues, the 23 -year -old produced only 81 points on seven MLC 2024 games. Unicorns, however, are not disturbed.“You can continue to go more and more deeply today with AI. For example, if Bowler X is the bowling alley to beat Y, the bowling coach can advise what they should be the bowling alley, what length, what the plan is, etc. can help you spectacular.“What you see right now is that a large part of this has been done by the first level of data analysis. AI is sort of the following level. And a completely new territory. “”“I think most of the teams should start this trip at this point, because it will open a lot of new avenues on how you play the game.After an inaugural season of learning, the Unicorns of San Francisco finished second in 2024, losing against Washington Freedom in the final. It was a great success for the two teams, especially since they are against four franchises supported by the owners of the IPL. Mi New York, Texas Super Kings, the Knight Riders and Seattle Orcas benefit from the experience acquired thanks to the participation of their owners in various T20 leagues.
We presented ourselves at the stadium, all the IPL teams have gifts. We have no idea that this is what you do! So our guys run towards the local printer, trying to print flags, trying to get hats
Venky Harinarayan
The challenge of competing with such inherited franchises intrigue Venky. “To be honest, I really like it. Because it’s always good to compete with the best. I am very happy with all the IPL teams as partners, but from a franchise point of view, especially in the field, you want to compete with the best, “he said before recognizing their collaboration with the Victoria cricket to ensure that they are an effective unit. “I have the impression that we are the new children on the block and we embrace that. Again, coming from the world of startups, we kiss it completely.”“When you start a startup, you compete with the big giants. So you have to kiss this. Otherwise, you don’t belong to this world. And to be honest, the first year was not great. We presented ourselves at the stadium, all the IPL teams have gifts, have flags. We have no idea that this is what you do! So our guys run towards the local printer, trying to print flags, trying to get hats. “”How do you cultivate cricket in the United States?
Oakland Coliseum will host MLC matches this season, becoming the third site in the United States League T20. (Image credit: x)
This captures one of the challenges for MLC and its six franchises. There have been stable stages with the number of games from 19, 25 to 34 in the coming season, the sites also going from two (Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas and Church Street Park, North Carolina) to three (Grand Prairie; Brooward County Stadium in Lauderhiil, Florida and Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California). There is a global game growth test in the region while keeping the competitive league.“We are quite clear that it is something that will not happen overnight. This will happen over a period of time, and we must be patient and ready to continue to push. We know that there are certainly competition opportunities, there is still a way to go – we must continue to improve,” opened Venky.“After each season, we are thinking about what we can do better, and I’m sure each team does the same. And when it comes to growing cricket here, it’s something that we really have to kiss. “”“As a startup, the first two years were particularly difficult. We focused on the ordering of our own house – aligning a competitive product and obtaining the right bases. But now, in front of the four season, after this one, we think that we are at a point where we can start to take a real momentum.”“There are so many opportunities. We were surprised by interest – not only to look at cricket, but playing it. And that is not limited to people who grew up in nations playing cricket like India. They are also their children and those of other communities. You see this reflected in the academies of the Bay region – the one I recently visited had more than 300 children, and this is only one of the many. “”“First of all, we must consolidate sport within passionate communities, then we develop to those where awareness is still low. There is also a marketing challenge – many Americans still think of the old cricket format, with tea breaks and several days. But T20 is a fast and exciting game that corresponds to vision habits here. Once people experience it, they love it, but it takes education. “”“Of course, American sports are deeply rooted, so the size of a niche here will not be easy. It is not a simple process. But we have an excellent raw material and encouraging evidence of the first two seasons. Football has taken a long time to settle here. So, we just have to continue to push, continue to invest, and that’s important. “”San Francisco Unicorns will see the MLC 2025 season in progress against Washington Freedom on June 12 at the Oakland Coliseum. A total of 30 games will be played at the League stadium, followed by Knockouts in Texas, the season culminating on July 13.
