Rajasthan Royals’ SupeRR Selector Hackathon has concluded its Mumbai finale after drawing 7,500 participants from 39 countries with 1,500 valid submissions, marking the Royals as the first franchise in the league to build a fan-led analytics initiative of this scale and ambition.
Sixteen finalists featuring students, young professionals and early-career analysts were invited to the franchise’s Mumbai office for an in-person analytics challenge, where they stepped inside the Royals’ decision-making. The initiative placed emerging analytical talent at the centre, giving young thinkers a meaningful platform to showcase their skills and engage with the strategic world of the biggest T20 league.
The Mumbai finale offered the Top 16 finalists a dynamic, collaborative environment where they worked through real-world T20 strategy scenarios, refined their models with guidance from the Royals’ analytics team and presented their ideas to a panel including senior members of the franchise.
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At the end of the day-long challenge, three winners — Abhishek Akula (IIT Madras), Nitin Rajasekar (IIIT Hyderabad) and Sainath Reddy (IIIT Raipur) — were selected for their clarity of thought, analytical depth and innovative approach.
They travelled to Abu Dhabi as Rajasthan Royals’ fan representatives at the Indian T20 League auction, gaining rare behind-the-scenes access to one of cricket’s most strategic events, along with an opportunity to present their case studies to Kumar Sangakkara and Giles Lindsay.
Speaking about the initiative, Giles Lindsay, Director of Strategy & Analytics at Rajasthan Royals, said: “The SupeRR Selector has shown us just how much analytical HunaRR lives within our fanbase. The finalists brought remarkable creativity and depth to their work, and it was inspiring to see them engage with the same strategic challenges our team tackles every season. This initiative is about opening our doors to fans, inviting them into our world and empowering them to contribute to the thinking behind the sport. The quality we witnessed reinforces our belief that talent can come from anywhere.”
The SupeRR Selector Hackathon is part of the Royals’ commitment to building long-term pathways for fan-led innovation and talent discovery, nurturing skill both on the field and beyond it. As the franchise continues to spotlight young fans, it also aims to open-source more of such events and give fans wider opportunities to participate in and influence the dynamic sports ecosystem.
