MPCA AI Recommends Cricket Players, But Selectors Get Final Say

The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association is putting artificial intelligence in the selection room, building an AI system that will recommend cricket players for state teams based on their runs, wickets, and other performance data. MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia told reporters in Indore on Friday that the project could make his association the first cricket body in the world to adopt AI at this level in sports administration.

The system is being tested in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League (MPL) ahead of a wider rollout to district and divisional cricket units before the next season begins in September. Selectors will keep the final word on every team. If their pick breaks from the statistical data, they will be required to record why. That new accountability layer is one Scindia framed as a way to eliminate any potential bias in the selection process.

How the MPCA Selection System Will Work

At the heart of the announcement is a performance-driven recommendation engine. The MPCA president said the AI-powered system will analyse players’ runs, wickets, and other performance data, then feed those numbers to human selectors in the form of recommendations. Selectors receive those recommendations on a digital dashboard, where they can compare candidates and build their squads before submitting the team to the MPCA for final approval.

That accountability rule is the system’s defining feature. The MPCA president told reporters that if a player is selected or excluded on a basis other than statistical data, selectors will be required to record the reasons, increasing accountability throughout the process. In practice, the AI does not pick the team; the selectors do. The algorithm’s job is to force the human decision into the open.

An AI ERP That Reaches Beyond the Selection Room

The selection engine is only one module in a much larger Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that the MPCA is building from scratch. Speaking at NDTV’s YUVA 2026 event on Saturday, Scindia said India has yet to see a dedicated ERP for cricket, and he wants MPCA to build the first one. The goal is to remove what he described as the administrative haze between the central association and its underlying divisions and districts.

Four functions sit inside the same digital pipeline as the player-selection module. The AI that recommends a batsman also handles the paperwork a district association has to file to get funded. Each of those administrative tasks currently runs on manual follow-up, with no central system to track what is missing. The new platform puts all four on the same digital floor.

• Grant applications from district and divisional cricket units
• Document verification for those applications
• Expenditure monitoring across MPCA-funded activities
• Financial management for the association’s day-to-day operations

Scindia gave a concrete example of how the AI runs in the background of the grants process. When a district unit uploads its requirements for a grant, an AI model will automatically flag any missing requirements, he said at the NDTV event. That single quote captures the design: the same AI that recommends a player also checks a unit’s paperwork before money moves. His YUVA 2026 talk on AI in cricket administration is covered in NDTV’s report on the event.

Why Scindia Built an AI System for Cricket Administration

Scindia brings a tech-founder’s instincts to a job that has, for most Indian state associations, been the preserve of career administrators. He is the president of the MPCA, the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket League, and an entrepreneur in the artificial intelligence sector. At NDTV’s YUVA 2026 event he framed the project as a deliberate use of that background. His pitch was that integrating AI into sports administration is one of the few primary ways a young leader can drive meaningful change in the game.

At the NDTV event, Scindia connected that background directly to the ERP project. “As a young leader, I believe there are a few primary ways to drive meaningful change, starting with the integration of technology into sports administration,” he said.

The deeper problem Scindia described is structural. The connection between the MPCA and its underlying divisions and districts is often hazy regarding accounting and committee processes, he told the audience. Grants, reimbursements, and compliance paperwork all pass through a chain that runs on phone calls, paper files, and personal relationships. An ERP pulls that chain into one dashboard and gives the president, and eventually the auditors, a single view of what is being spent, what is being applied for, and which players are being picked.

MPCA, a state-level cricket body, is rolling this out first. The same system that will handle senior team selection is also being readied for the district and divisional units, which Scindia said would get the platform before the next season begins in September. NDTV’s coverage of the YUVA 2026 talk notes the model could serve as a digital blueprint for other associations, and could eventually be adopted by the Indian Premier League.

The Selector’s New Paper Trail

The single rule that turns the AI from a recommendation bot into an oversight tool is the paper trail. Scindia was direct that the rule’s purpose is to remove favouritism from squad selection. Selectors who override the AI’s data must log a written reason in the MPCA’s system. Without that log, the MPCA’s new ERP is just a faster way to make the same opaque picks.

We want to eliminate any potential bias in the player selection process. AI will recommend players for selection based on their performance, while the selectors will take the final decision.

MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia said those words to reporters in Indore on Friday, framing the AI as an anti-bias tool for a process that has historically run behind closed doors. Indian state cricket has rarely put selector reasoning on the public record, and the rationale for picking or dropping a player has usually stayed inside the selection committee. The new MPCA rule asks selectors to log a written reason for any pick that breaks from the AI’s data. The rule, as Scindia described it, is what turns the recommendation engine into an audit trail the association can review.

From MPL Test to a September Rollout

The system is not going live across Madhya Pradesh cricket overnight. Scindia said the AI is currently being tested in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League (MPL). The MPL gives the MPCA a controlled test bed for the recommendation engine against real squad picks. Emergent, the AI startup partnering with MPCA on the build, has been working on the platform for the last six months, according to Emergent’s CEO Mukund Jha.

The next milestone is a wider one. Scindia said the plan is to make the system available to district and divisional units before the next cricket season, which begins in September. That is the scope of the rollout Scindia has set for the platform.

1. Friday: MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia announces the AI selection and administration system in Indore.
2. Saturday: Scindia outlines the broader ERP vision at NDTV’s YUVA 2026 event.
3. Currently underway: System is being tested in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League (MPL).
4. Before September: Plan to roll out the platform to district and divisional cricket units.

Beyond September, the question is whether the model travels. Scindia’s claim is that the MPCA could be the first cricket organisation in the world to adopt an AI-based system at this level in sports administration. NDTV’s coverage notes the model could serve as a digital blueprint for other associations, and might eventually be adopted by the Indian Premier League. That is the trajectory the MPCA is pointing at, not a commitment from the IPL or any other body.

What Emergent’s CEO Is Saying

The technology partner is Emergent, an AI startup whose CEO, Mukund Jha, has been working with the MPCA for the last six months to bring the association’s various processes onto a unified digital platform. Jha positioned the partnership as a project he wants to take global.

Our partnership aims to digitise the entire process of sports administration. This will increase transparency. We want to take this AI system to the global level.

Jha’s framing tracks with Scindia’s. The bias-elimination pitch from the MPCA president and the digitisation pitch from Emergent are two sides of the same product: a single platform that handles both squad selection and association finance. What neither executive can promise yet is whether the platform actually moves beyond Madhya Pradesh.

• 6 months: How long Emergent has been working on the MPCA platform.
• 2 product areas: Player selection and full association administration in one ERP.
• 1 testing ground: The Madhya Pradesh T20 League (MPL), the first competition to run on the AI.
• 1 target window: District and divisional rollout before the next cricket season.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the MPCA AI player selection system?

The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association is building an AI system that analyses player performance data, including runs, wickets, and other match statistics, and generates recommendations for human selectors. Selectors use those recommendations on a digital dashboard to pick state teams, and they retain the final say on every selection. The platform also runs the association’s grants, document verification, expenditure, and financial management in the same ERP.

Will AI replace human selectors in MPCA teams?

No, the AI only recommends players. MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia said the selectors will take the final decision on every team. Selectors can override the AI’s recommendations, but they must record a written reason for any pick that does not match the data the system produced.

When will the MPCA AI selection system be fully rolled out?

The platform is being tested right now in the Madhya Pradesh T20 League. MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia said the wider rollout, to district and divisional cricket units across the state, is targeted before the next season starts in September.

Which AI company is building the MPCA platform?

Emergent, an AI startup led by CEO Mukund Jha. Jha said his team has spent the last six months moving the MPCA’s administrative processes onto a single digital platform that covers both team selection and back-office operations.

Has any other cricket body used AI for player selection?

Not according to the reporting on the MPCA announcement. MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia said the MPCA could be the first cricket body in the world to adopt an AI-based system at this level, but no independent body has verified that claim in the coverage of the announcement.