Former India skipper Rahul Dravid, who is widely regarded as one of finest cricketing brains, reckons data, which is used for player selection and building strategies, should drive a good contest going forward.

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“Cricket has always been statistically-driven like baseball, but over the past 15 years we have moved beyond comparing averages and now use data to help in strategy and player selection,” Dravid said during a panel discussion at the 15th MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Ex-South Africa opener Gary Kirsten and former England women’s cricketer-turned-commentator Isa Guha were part of the panel discussion moderated by Alok Singh, director at Dell Technologies.

They had a discussion on a range of topics, including how data is helping players train and stay fit and how scoring 4s and 6s has changed team decisions.

According to Dravid, players will use data to hit fours and sixes to win more games going forward.

“The days are not far off when people are going to turn down a single because the matchup suites them to be able to hit a six in the two or three balls,” the batting legend said.

“Data should drive a good contest between bat and ball in cricket, not just for hitting fours and sixes,” Dravid further remarked.

Sharing her two cents on the same, Isa Guha highlighted how younger players now have better access to technology, which helps them in making strategies against the opposition.

Kirsten stressed that data is only an enabler and the final decisions still have an element of uncertainty just like the unpredictable nature of the sport.

(With PTI inputs)