New Delhi: ESPNcricinfo adds to its list of innovations by launching the first phase of the “AskCricinfo” service, a natural language search tool on a query for all T20 stats including tournaments like IPL, BBL, CPL, PSL, T20 Blast, BPL, T20 Internationals, and Women’s T20 internationals that will democratize access to cricket stats allowing even a casual fan to get deep stats by just “asking” in English language (through text or voice). This is the first step towards the vision of offering a rich tool to cricket fans globally that can answer on query any data stats through text and voice. While starting with T20s, over time AskCricinfo service would cover all other formats of the game. Fans can experience the new service at https://www.espncricinfo.com/ask
ESPNcricinfo with its reliable global data and editorial operations built over decades, partnered with AskHereFirst, which is founded by Prof. Vishal Misra, also the co-founder of Cricinfo, to conceptualize and launch the first phase of this innovative application. The application leverages the deep statistical database of Cricinfo built over the years – Statsguru and using capabilities of the AI platform. Along with plans to add in advanced query options in the future, besides search query capability in other languages, Prof. Vishal Misra will be working closely with ESPNcricinfo Editor – Sambit Bal and the team to make it a compelling offering on ESPNcricinfo.
The AskCricinfo service will enable fans to simply ask natural language questions (typed or spoken) to get answers. For instance, one can ask, “Which team hit most sixes in power play in IPL 2021?” or “Which wicketkeeper took the most catches in PSL 2021?”
According to Sambit Bal, Editor-in-chief ESPNcricinfo “This is the first step towards what could be significant in making cricket stats accessible on demand. ESPNcricinfo’s Statsguru has been the default stats query tool for professionals and stats enthusiasts for years, but AskCricinfo is an attempt to unlock our data vault for everyone. It is very much a work in progress, and it cannot yet answer everything, but like all tools powered by artificial intelligence, it will get better and better with use. Therefore, we urge cricket fans to use it in the spirit of collaboration, and of course, for fun.”
For Prof. Misra, the AskCricinfo natural search marks a return to ESPNcricinfo, where he was part of the co-founding team. “The AskCricinfo natural search is one of a kind and is based on a major technological innovation. Nothing like this exists for any online service, much less for a sport or for cricket.”
Commenting on the release, Ramesh Kumar, VP & Head of ESPN India & South Asia said, “The vision for AskCricinfo is to be the one-stop companion application for cricket fans, gamers, players, analysts and officials to query for data insights and any information on cricket. We have made a small beginning of this with the launch of the first phase of the product offering, and in the coming months, will be building additional features in this application, besides advanced querying capabilities. Fans will have unrestricted access to use this service for a limited period and we will be making strategic partnerships with other platforms to ensure as wide a reach for this.”
