CricViz, a leading cricket analytics and data company, is redefining how the sport is played, analyzed, and experienced worldwide. Recently, the company partnered with New Zealand Cricket to overhaul its data ecosystem, delivering real-time insights for players, coaches, administrators, and fans alike.
Sportsmint Media sat down with Subhayu Roy, Global Sales Director and Director, CricViz India, to get an exclusive insight into CricViz’s innovative approach and its transformative partnership with New Zealand Cricket.
1) How has your personal journey been over the years?
I’ve been fortunate to build a career at the intersection of passion and profession. My path began conventionally: an engineering degree followed by a business diploma. But curiosity soon pulled me toward sport. My first major role was in Africa, where I spent four years creating SMS content services for Premier League clubs – an early lesson in how data and technology can bring fans closer to the game.
When I returned to India in 2014, I stumbled upon the emerging field of granular sports data. It was a revelation: every ball, every shot, every movement distilled into numbers that could tell a deeper story. I experimented with entrepreneurship, spent a brief spell in sports media, and kept gravitating back to the power of data.
Joining CricViz in 2023 felt like the natural next step. Today, as Global Head of Sales, I engage daily with cricket boards, leagues, broadcasters, and franchises. From discussing strategy with analysts to exploring new fan-engagement tools with media executives, no two conversations are alike. What continues to excite me every day is the sense that we’re only scratching the surface of what data can do for cricket.
2) CricViz has partnered with New Zealand Cricket recently. Can you walk us through how these collaborations came about?
CricViz has long worked with boards like the ECB, Cricket Australia, West Indies Cricket, and South Africa. When New Zealand Cricket (NZC) decided to overhaul its data ecosystem, it sought a partner with both technical depth and a collaborative mindset.
They invited us to Auckland for an intensive five-day workshop. The first two days were eye-opening: NZC laid out the history of their data systems, gaps, and aspirations. Over the next two days, we co-designed solutions—mapping our products, such as Centurion and Query Tool, to their high-performance needs, while exploring fan-engagement possibilities. On the final day, we aligned on commercials and shook hands. It also helped that NZC was working with some experienced consultants who had managed some very large-scale digital transformation projects.
What stood out was NZC’s clarity of vision. They weren’t chasing data for data’s sake; they wanted a system that served coaches, players, administrators, and fans alike. Today, our FastPath technology captures every ball live, our feeds power internal reports, payroll, LED scoreboards, and digital streams, and our match centres give supporters a seamless, data-rich experience across national and regional teams, whilst all of our Performance Management products and services aid the High Performance and Coaching staff. It’s a true end-to-end partnership.
3) How do partnerships differ across countries or leagues – say, between a national board like NZC and a commercial league like SA20?
While every client values data, their motivations diverge sharply.
National boards focus on long-term growth—developing talent pipelines, optimising team performance, and maintaining the integrity of both red-ball and white-ball cricket. For them, we provide tools that help coaches and analysts answer granular questions: for example, what delivery is statistically most effective against a particular batter?
Commercial leagues, by contrast, find us offering the greatest value in fan engagement and revenue maximization. They use the same data to create excitement—think real-time MVP leaderboards, predictive win percentages, or interactive graphics that simplify complex strategies for casual viewers. On the SA20 website, our numbers might show how a player’s strike rate in a clutch performance made all the difference in a match, giving fans an immediate storyline to follow.
The underlying dataset is the same, but the storytelling, packaging, and speed of delivery are completely different.
4) How different is selling CricViz services in India compared to more mature analytics markets like the UK or Australia?
India is no less mature than the UK or Australia—it’s simply more massive and decentralised. Cricket Australia can manage a centralised data arrangement covering the men’s, women’s, and state teams. The ECB can do the same across teams in The Hundred.
India, by contrast, is a federation of 36 associations—some states have multiple governing bodies—collectively staging over 15,000 domestic matches across 580+ venues each year. Databases often don’t interconnect. A promising fast bowler from Baroda might appear in three different systems depending on which local association recorded his games.
For CricViz, this means tailoring solutions that scale horizontally and vertically: tools that individual associations can run independently but that also feed into a larger national framework. It requires more outreach, more training, and stronger infrastructure. Despite these challenges, what stands out is the BCCI’s appetite for innovation. They consistently champion excellence, so once a solution proves its worth, adoption can be rapid and widespread.
5) How do you tailor your services differently for clients like broadcasters, franchises, and boards?
Our philosophy is to meet each client where their priorities lie.
Broadcasters need to hold the audience’s attention. We embed analysts inside production teams to supply real-time context; power on-screen graphics with our Data Feeds; and enrich post-match shows with deep breakdowns—turning raw numbers into television moments.
Franchises are split into two tracks: the cricket side and the commercial side. For the cricket staff, we run player-value models and opposition analysis that inform auction bids and game strategies. Coaches might ask us to simulate 50 different bowling plans before a playoff. For marketing teams, we help craft sponsor activations and fan experiences built on our data—interactive leaderboards, dynamic social media content, and more.
Boards prioritise development, sustainability, and transparency. We support talent identification, build robust data ecosystems, and often train our own analysts, giving them agency to use our back-end tools for years to come.
6) What makes CricViz stand out from other cricket data providers or in-house analytics teams?
Two factors: unmatched data and a culture of obsession.
Our database covers more than three million deliveries with over 55 data points per ball—everything from shot type and intent to ball trajectory. Through exclusive partnerships with HawkEye and VirtualEye, we capture true 3D ball-tracking data rather than relying on analyst estimates.
Equally important is our team. We’re a relatively small group, but everyone is driven by a deep love for cricket and data science. That passion shows in our predictive models, our creative visualisations, and the relentless pursuit of insight that helps clients win matches and captivate fans.
7) How scalable is CricViz’s current setup – especially in supporting multiple leagues simultaneously?
Scalability is built into our DNA. We balance self-serve products with bespoke services and maintain analyst teams across India, the UK, South Africa, and the Caribbean. During the most recent World Test Championship Final, we simultaneously served England and South Africa (both clients), powered Sky Sports’ host broadcast, and provided real-time analysis for outlets like BBC and Hindustan Times. Time zones, overlapping commitments, even competing client interests—we manage them seamlessly.
8) In five years, do you see CricViz expanding into other sports and services, or maybe even doubling down on deeper cricket tech like AI and predictive analytics?
CricViz is part of Ellipse Data, which also has similar data businesses in Tennis, Rugby, Horse Racing, and Football. So, CricViz as a business will fundamentally remain in Cricket. However, we believe that the Cricket ecosystem is discovering new use cases for data, and a lot is left to be uncovered. We already work with AI to deliver some of our products, and predictive analytics like Win Probability and Score Prediction have been the first milestones on the CricViz journey – so adoption of new technology or finding deeper applications of data is fundamental to us.
However, if one has to gaze into the crystal ball and guess what will happen in five years, we see new applications of data in creating experiences: hyper-personalization of live match streams, on-demand insights for fans, simulations, etc. We also believe that ICC’s efforts in popularizing Cricket in emerging markets will develop some data-first teams who will find data more integral to their functioning. If I look back at where we were 5 years ago, it seems like we have come a long way – so five years from now, where we will be is always going to be a guess that will fall short of reality.
However, one thing I am sure of is that we will still be a bunch of passionate followers of the Sport, trying to find newer ways to improve the Sport on the field, and its experience off it.
