As artificial intelligence steadily begins to influence every layer of modern sport, cricket coaching, too, is undergoing a transformation. What was once confined to throwdowns, instinct and endless repetition in the nets is now being supplemented by real-time data, motion tracking and instant technical feedback.

At the centre of this shift is Kabuni, a platform that captures player movement and ball-tracking data before converting it into clear, actionable insights. Built around a ‘one per cent improvement’ philosophy, the technology focuses on small technical corrections that, over time, can produce significant gains in performance. By blending voice prompts, video analysis and visual cues, it aims to make elite-level coaching more accessible, particularly for young cricketers.

“The thing for me that’s so exciting about the incredible technology they’re building, harnessing the power of AI, is the ability to scale me and scale the knowledge I’ve developed over the years of playing and now coaching,” former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson, who is appointed as the platform’s ‘Super Coach’ told Sportstar.

“I’ve thought about this ever since I got into coaching. Whether I’m working with a team or individuals, it’s always limited to the time I have and the people within my orbit at that moment,” Watson said.

Bringing elite coaching within reach

In his growing-up years, the former Australia international dreamt of training under some of the game’s biggest names, something that rarely felt possible then. But with advances in technology, Watson believes that gap can finally be bridged.

“For me growing up, if I was in my teens, I would have loved to be coached by somebody like Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Brian Lara or Viv Richards. But unless you are in their orbit, you never really get that opportunity,” he said.

Watson, who also works as an assitant coach at Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders, believes AI can democratise elite coaching by making high-level expertise accessible to aspiring cricketers around the world.

“The beauty of Kabuni is that through AI technology, any boy or girl anywhere in the world can now have access to my philosophies and methods. The technology can identify technical deficiencies, and my digital twin can guide them through small adjustments, batting concepts and technical ideas,” he said.

“For me, it’s an amazing opportunity to scale the knowledge I’ve gained over the years and help as many boys and girls around the world as possible develop strong technical foundations. That’s the beauty of Kabuni and why I’m so excited to be involved. I love coaching and helping people get the best out of themselves, and now technology allows that to reach far more young cricketers,” he added.

Can technology replace human touch?

However, with coaching often rooted in instinct, human interaction and personal understanding, Watson was asked whether technology could truly replicate those nuances.

“Of course, you still need someone there facilitating the session — throwing balls, feeding the bowling machine or helping in the nets. But the real power lies in the technology’s ability to identify small technical improvements ball by ball,” Watson said.

Drawing from his own playing days, Watson recalled how feedback once took days, sometimes weeks, to arrive.

“When I was coming back from a stress fracture and working on my bowling with Dennis Lillee, he couldn’t always be there in person. Back then, I would record videos, burn them onto a CD-ROM and send them across to him for feedback. Then I would work on those adjustments over the following weeks,” he said.

“This is essentially a far more scalable and real-time version of that. A batter can play one shot in the nets and immediately receive feedback from my digital twin — maybe about their bottom hand gripping too tightly, or their head position, or their balance at the crease.”

Watson believes such instant, simplified feedback could be especially valuable for young cricketers and parents without formal coaching backgrounds.

“I know from taking my son to the nets that there are plenty of dads trying to help their children improve, but they don’t always know exactly what to look for. They’re just encouraging that love for cricket,” he said.

“With something like this platform, the parent can focus on facilitating the session, while my digital twin provides immediate technical feedback. It helps young players understand the little nuances and adjustments they can make ball by ball to keep improving in a really simple but meaningful way.”

‘AI will enhance coaching, not replace it’

But while AI may alter the delivery of coaching, Watson does not believe it will replace the essence of it. Instead, he sees technology as a powerful enhancer, one capable of expanding access to elite cricketing minds across the globe.

“Look, I don’t think it’ll, it won’t redefine how I coach, for example. It will definitely from my personal perspective with me coaching, you know, the different people that I’m coaching, you know, in person, it will mean I’ve got technology to be able to give feedback like much quicker because of the video footage that’s being able to be taken.

“The thing that’s going to revolutionise coaching is the ability to be able to scale my knowledge, to be able to get my information and the other super coaches philosophies around technique and been able to give that feedback to, to as many boys and girls all around the world. So that’s where it’s going to really shift how coaching is done. You’re going to be able to get access to the inside knowledge from some of the best coaches, the best, the best cricketers around the world, wherever you are around the world. So that’s where things are going to shift,” he said.

“The one-on-one coaching, the in-person coaching, that’s just going to be enhanced, but the scalability for anyone around the world to be able to get access to, to AB de Villiers, myself, for example, that’s where it’s going to be game changing…”

The next frontier: Mental performance

With modern cricketers constantly switching between formats and enduring packed schedules, Watson also stressed the growing importance of mental conditioning alongside technical development.

“As much as you work on your technical development and the technical side of you as a person in parallel, you need to be working on the mental side, the mental skill side of you as a performer as well, because you’re absolutely spot on. That’s as important because if your mental understanding, your mental skills are not where it needs to be, then you can’t unlock your technical prowess that you’ve got. And that’s one thing that’s what I’ve been coaching. I, I do technical coaching, but one of the other things that I’ve been doing over the last, gosh, seven or eight years is around mental performance coaching as well. And that’s something that I’m, that we are developing at the moment as well…”

“We’re going to have a product that’s going to come out hopefully pretty soon around mental performance coaching as well because that is a huge gap as well around being able to make sure that in parallel, once the technical development continues to improve and continues to be there, the mental performance improvement needs to be there as well, especially when people are playing so many games, they’re going between formats.

“But also just around performance, understanding and mental performance as well, because whether that’s in the classroom, whether that’s in other parts of your life where you are performing, understanding how to be able to get out of your own way, to be able to bring all the skills you’ve got, is critically important as well. It’s not just the cricket technical side of things,” he said, adding: “It’s also the mental performance side of things that we’re developing as well…”

Published on May 24, 2026