The duality of Indian cricket is hard to ignore. While money and opportunities flow under the high-mast floodlights of stadiums that host international ODIs and cash-rich cricket leagues, the real sport is played in the dusty district grounds and makeshift pitches, where players hone their talent with sweat and blood.
However, getting discovered in one of those cricket nurseries still factors more on chance than skill. A good performance might matter, but only if the right selector is watching.
Satyendra Kumar found himself on the wrong side of that uneven system. “I played eight years of cricket,” the 19-year-old said. “I was in the under-16 state team probables… but I didn’t get enough chances even being a left-arm fast bowler.”
Left-arm fast bowlers are rare in Indian cricket, but that didn’t guarantee opportunity. “There is no benchmark, no structure or no transparency in selections,” he recalled.
He kept pushing. He earned spots at special IPL camps with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Delhi Capitals, and Lucknow Super Giants. But as his cricket career edged forward, life threw curveballs.
This experience inspired Kumar to create opportunities for others facing similar challenges, believing that if the system couldn’t be fair to him, it was time to build something new. In September this year, the teenager launched ScoutEdge as an AI-driven talent-scouting and video-analysis platform.
Building a Tech Backbone for Talent Discovery
Before starting up, Satyendra plunged into AI, realising Big Data and AI can assist scouts across India in overcoming biases related to geography, religion, background, or even physical appearance. Additionally, these technologies offer a cost-effective scouting solution, as travelling across the country can be expensive.
In just two months, he earned 84 Microsoft Learn AI badges through an upskilling programme offered by the tech giant.
He then became a familiar face at startup events and competitions, including Startup Singam (top 25 finalist), SRM Bootstrappers Research Council, Global Student Entrepreneurs Awards (top 3 finalist), CRFTHQ Fellowship, StudUp TBI, NextUnicorn Global Awards, ISB IVI, and media features like Sharks of India.
He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Data Science and Application at IIT Madras.
Over the last two years, Satyendra studied Python, MySQL, machine learning, and GenAI to architect the core of the AI platform. He also designed the database schemas for structuring player data, providing automated score computation pipelines, a dashboard for tracking growth, and an intelligent filtering system for athletes.
On the video analytics side, Kumar experimented with open-source frameworks OpenCV and MediaPipe for pose detection, AlphaPose for skeletal tracking, and YOLOv8 for real-time cricket action detection. Advanced deep learning frameworks like I3D and SlowFast enabled ScoutEdge to read motion across frames to classify bowling and batting techniques.
Budding players like Karan Kannan and Vaibhav Mishra swear by the platform’s possibilities.
Despite representing Andhra Pradesh at U-14, U-16, U-19 and U-23, and later joining Puducherry’s Ranji squad, Kannan hit the same invisible wall Satyendra once did. “Even if I was performing… I was not given that proper opportunity,” he told AIM.
ScoutEdge’s AI-driven insights gave him structured feedback, helping him identify strengths, address weaknesses, and train with greater purpose, he said.
AI Steps In Where Human Eyes Can’t Always Reach
ScoutEdge’s foundational idea is that technology can correct structural imbalance by producing consistent, objective assessments where subjective judgement once dominated. “We are mostly leveraging AI to get better insight for scouting,” Kumar explained. “We use deep learning, NLP, computer vision… to get better insight from the stats we have.”
The founder and CEO embedded this philosophy in the Player Growth Index (PGI), a multidimensional score that evaluates players through performance analytics, AI-driven video analysis and feedback processed using natural language processing, and fitness and mental resilience assessments.
For temporal analysis, understanding movement over time, video recognition frameworks like I3D and SlowFast allow the system to dissect a bowler’s run-up or a batsman’s backlift across frames.
Machine learning models like Linear Regression predict scouting index scores, while classification systems such as Random Forests and SVM (Support Vector Machine) bucket players into skill tiers. Together, these tools give ScoutEdge the analytical depth of a human coach paired with the precision and reproducibility of machine intelligence, the startup claims.
For players, this translates into meaningful, actionable insights. “Before ScoutEdge, it was very difficult for me to analyse what my strengths are, what my weaknesses are,” Kannan highlighted. “ScoutEdge changed this entirely.”
He adjusted his training based on what the platform flagged, “If I’m a little weak in a pull shot… if I could do that drill for 100 balls, now I would do it for 200.”
Mishra, an 18-year-old representing Bihar U-19, had grown up without access to even turf wickets. “Working with ScoutEdge has been a turning point for me. My training became smarter instead of just longer.”
The Chennai-based startup’s AI insights revealed nuances in his bowling patterns, such as seam position, release angles, run-up rhythm, and workload balance. “I’m hoping the platform keeps adding more tools, especially for bowlers, like advanced ball-tracking, fatigue prediction, and session planning,” he added.
For both players, ScoutEdge has become an accelerator—a structured, fair system they never had.
Funding, Scale, and Business Model
ScoutEdge’s traction has translated into significant financial backing. Through Tamil Nadu-based business reality TV show Startup Singam, three investors pledged ₹50 lakh each, totalling ₹1.5 crore. Two additional ₹25 lakh grants came from the Institute of Internal Auditor Delhi’s Ignite programme, followed by ₹10 lakh from Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute Tamil Nadu, and a pending ₹40 lakh Genesis grant.
The startup is further supported by a looming six-year government scheme and incubated at IIT Madras, where Kumar can access research labs, technical support, and business mentorship.
The company’s revenue strategy is diversified.
Players access the platform through individual subscriptions for personalised analytics and improvement plans. The pricing starts from ₹199/month; however, coaches and academies can choose plans ranging from ₹999 to ₹2,499/month based on team size and analytics depth.
Meanwhile, scouts and teams can opt for custom enterprise plans featuring advanced dashboards and analytics that use a SaaS-based model tailored to talent-identification workflows.
The startup also has enterprise-scale contracts to enable leagues and franchises to integrate AI-enabled scouting into their recruitment pipelines. In addition, ScoutEdge is developing paid mentorship channels, trial facilitation services, and consulting offerings for emerging talent.
Currently, ScoutEdge has onboarded over 600 players from different regions and age groups, including district, state, and academy-level athletes. “We are onboarding more players every week as we prepare for a wider launch,” Kumar highlighted.
The startup’s 12-member team collaborates with over 20 academies and training centres, including the Sitamarhi District Cricket Association, the Dumra Cricket Academy, the Asha Indoor Academy, the Elite Sports Academy (Chennai), and the Nexus Cricket High-Performance Centre. It is also in early discussions with organisations like TNCA, BCCI units, and IPL teams like RCB and SRH to develop scouting and data-driven evaluation modules.
ScoutEdge’s key competitors in India include Vtrakit, which analyses cricket data for aspiring players; the Dartle App, a SaaS platform that enhances football academy operations and talent scouting; and Prorecruit India, which allows athletes to create digital profiles to improve recruitment opportunities.
Injury Prevention, Mental Resilience & Chatbots
ScoutEdge also positions itself as an athlete welfare platform. Its injury-prevention system allows players to log pain via a visual body map and receive targeted exercises, mobility routines, workload adjustments, and diet recommendations.
The platform includes a body-mapping system that allows players to indicate areas of pain or discomfort, rate their severity, and receive personalised recommendations. These suggestions include mobility routines, corrective exercises, workload adjustments, and sometimes dietary guidance to manage fatigue or overuse.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) uses injury and workload-tracking systems for national and under-19 players to prevent burnout among fast bowlers. Indian Super League clubs also use GPS vests and video analytics to monitor performance and develop strategies.
Additionally, the Khelo India initiative is creating a digital database of young athletes, recording their performance metrics to build a talent pool for future national teams.
Kumar is also building a conversational AI mentor designed to make expert guidance more accessible. The chatbot will eventually support multiple languages, allowing players across India’s diverse linguistic landscape to engage with frequently asked questions, analyse performance queries, and recommend drills or workload strategies.
Although still under development, it intends to democratise knowledge, giving disadvantaged players structured guidance once available only at elite academies.
ScoutEdge has also begun building a diverse mentorship ecosystem of over 50 people to give young players access to guidance that previously existed only within elite cricketing circles.
Among the mentors currently associated with the platform are Stephen Jones, a UK-based expert who has worked with IPL franchises like RCB and RR; Nishog Naik, widely recognised as India’s youngest scout; Mitans, who is part of the US national cricket setup; and Gor, a talent specialist connected with RCB.
Additionally, the startup is developing a mobile app, currently in beta and to be launched in early 2026.
A New Era of Discovery, Fueled by Stories and Precision
If ScoutEdge achieves its highest ambitions, cricket scouting in India and across the Indian diaspora could evolve into a system defined not by geography but by data.
Globally, sports analytics heavily rely on heat maps, biomechanics, action recognition, and fatigue modelling, and ScoutEdge signals India’s turn toward that future.
As Kannan said, “To be honest, this is just a start.”
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