CHENNAI: S Ramakrishnan’s Sportsmechanics celebrated 20 years of its association with the BCCI and the Indian cricket team at a glittering function on Monday. India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, batting coach Vikram Rathour and other support staff of the team graced the function.
Coming from a humble background, Ramakrishnan established a company that could simultaneously provide video analysis of all the Ranji Trophy games in the country and international matches. Not only did he develop software for video analysis but also for coaching and scoring.
He started his first job with a laptop and a video camera to record the player's batting and bowling at the nets of the Sishya school grounds. Then, he started doing video analysis at the MRF Pace Foundation and has grown from strength to strength to be the video analyst of the India team. Several of his staff members have been and are with the Indian team as video analysts. “Twenty years is a long time.
At that time, I never knew that we would go this far. We were able to upgrade our software and grow as data analysts,” said Ramakrishnan. Both Sharma and Dravid congratulated him for his contribution to Indian cricket. “It has been a memorable journey so far for 20 years. The next journey will be even more memorable like how Rahul Bhai said. He summarised nicely how we all use his data. My personal experience too has been good with the data we use,” said Sharma. “In 2013, they sent me to open the innings, I used the data to know what the other opening batters in the world were doing. The data came in handy.”
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar complimented Ramakrishnan’s contribution via a video message. “Thanks to the data of Ramky, the meetings (team) became more precise and purposeful,” he said. Former India pacer L Balaji’s career was uncertain due to injury. But Ramky’s inputs not only made him recover but also play for India again. Dravid, who has used the Sportsmechanics data both as a player and coach, appreciated the effort of the organisation.
“Congrats Ramky and Sportsmechanics, we have come a long way when you see sports data analysis. Ramky and Sportsmechanics have been in the forefront right from the start. Their inputs have been very useful for us to perform better,” said Dravid. TNCA president Ashok Sigamani lauded Ramakrishnan for his contribution.
