ITV

Category: Sports

  • Hero ISL reports viewership of 429 million across the nation

    Hero ISL reports viewership of 429 million across the nation

    MUMBAI: Hero Indian Super League (ISL), a joint venture by IMG-Reliance and Star India has created history in India with a record- breaking reach on television, in stadia and digital.  

    As per the TAM data, an aggregate of 429 million viewers from across the nation tuned in to watch the inaugural season of Hero ISL live on their televisions screens, making it the second most-watched sport in the country after cricket. Over 1.5 million fans watched it on ground, in-stadia, making it the fourth most attended football league in the world. Stadia were packed close to full capacity with attendance averaging about 26,000 fans per match. 

    The league cut across demographic boundaries and captured the imagination of a diverse fanbase, with women and children accounting for 57 per cent of the 429 million viewers.

    The Hero ISL was telecast live on eight channels in five different languages cross the Star India network. The league was also aired on starsports.com which had more than 32 million visits recorded during the tournament, surpassing the online audience even for the FIFA World Cup 2014. Across web, mobile and app, starsports.com recorded over 17 million online video views through the course of the tournament. The final match played between Kerala Blasters FC & Atletico de Kolkata recorded 1.6 million online visits. 

    Talking about the league’s success, Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Launched with the aim of helping football take root among the country’s masses, the Hero ISL was backed by an aggressive broadcast plan to bring an unparalleled football experience to the viewers. Our intent was to awaken the passion of football and create the birth of a footballing nation. The resultant success of the Hero ISL justifies it as the right platform for tapping the passion for the sport that exists in India. As we gear for a bigger and better second edition, I would like to thank our partners IMG- Reliance, AIFF, all the club owners and more than 400 million fans for making this dream a reality.”

    On 20 December 2014, the Hero ISL finale, held at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, had about 37,000 fans in attendance. The crowning of the first Hero ISL league champion was also watched by 57 million viewers, 2.4x of the reach of 2014 FIFA World Cup final, culminating the over two months long league. The final, with an average TVT of 1418 among M 15+ ABC, registered as the highest rated match of the tournament, 11 per cent higher than the opening match of the tournament. In the social media front, Hero ISL created a total of 2.2 million conversations with more than 275,000 unique authors, generating 11 billion potential impressions. #ISLfinal trended at #2 worldwide on Twitter, and Atletico de Kolkata at #1 in India on Facebook on the day of the finale.

     

    According to IMG-Reliance Chairperson Nita M Ambani, the success of Hero ISL is a realisation of the dream of a billion including Indians to experience and embrace the beauty of football. She said, “The beautiful game has successfully captured the imagination of people of India and we have experienced the joy of watching the birth of a footballing nation. Hero ISL has been geared towards one overarching objective— to develop football across the country in a systematic and holistic manner, and its success will spur the development of Indian football. I extend my gratitude to the people of India for their love and support.”

     

  • ICC Cricket WC 2015 announces opening events

    ICC Cricket WC 2015 announces opening events

    MUMBAI: Melbourne is to host the Australian opening event for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 on 12 February, next year.

     

    Tournament co-hosts New Zealand will stage its opening event on the same evening in Christchurch.

    The Melbourne celebration will involve World Cup players and legends, cultural and music performances, a spectacular fireworks display and a yet to be revealed “special moment”.  It will reflect the diversity and excitement of the 14 competing nations and include some icons in Australian entertainment.

     

    The opening events in both Melbourne and Christchurch will form part of a broadcast package to be televised around the world by Star Sports and its licensees. In Australia it will broadcast by FoxSports and the Nine Network.

     

    Victorian Minister for major events, tourism and sport, John Eren said the privilege of hosting the opening event meant that Melbourne would be the scene for the start of the tournament in Australia and its end, with the final to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 March.

     

    “We are delighted that Melburnians and visitors from all over the world will have a chance to attend this once in a generation event at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl,” Minister Eren said.

     

    ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 chief executive John Harnden said, “Melbourne will welcome the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to Australia for the first time in 23 years with this opening event. The Victorian government along with Victorian Major Events Company is giving us great support to put on this show for the tournament in Australia and I’m sure it will get us off to a great start.”

     

    The opening event is produced by George P Johnson with artistic director, Michael Reid whose past credits include the opening ceremony of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

     

    The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Opening Event in Australia is a free event, which will be ticketed.

     

    Tickets will be available to the public on a first come, first served basis.

     
    The event in Christchurch will feature some of New Zealand’s best known performers, cricket legends including Sir Richard Hadlee and Stephen Fleming and a special segment to recognise the rebuilding of the city following the disastrous earthquakes.

     

    Fast Facts:
    •         ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand
    •         14 teams: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, West Indies and Zimbabwe
    •         14 host cities: Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Hobart, Napier, Nelson, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington
    •         42 pool matches – three in each host city
    •         Every visiting team plays in both countries
    •         Children’s tickets available for every match
    •         Children’s tickets $5 for every pool match
    •         Children’s ticket for quarterfinals are $20, semifinals are $30, and final are $60
    •         Adults tickets from $20
    •         Two-thirds of total tickets $50 or less
    •         Travel Packages are on sale, go to www.icctravel.net
    •         Buy tickets and hospitality at www.cricketworldcup.com

     

  • Aircel Chennai Open gears up for its 20th edition. Mind It!

    Aircel Chennai Open gears up for its 20th edition. Mind It!

    Mumbai: The year saw many sports being launched in the country, reconfirming the belief that sports bug has bitten the country.

    While India saw two new tennis leagues, Champions Tennis League and the International Premier Tennis League, being introduced, the Aircel Chennai Open slated to begin from 5 to 11 January 2015, will be in its 20th edition.

     Aircel remains the title sponsor till 2016, the platinum sponsors include Government of Tamil Nadu, Indian Bank, United India Assurance, Murugappa Group and Indian Overseas Bank. The official partners are FedEx, Ricoh, KGS , FIAT, The Hindu, Hyatt Regency, TATA water Plus, Billroth Hospitals, Air Asia, Wilson, Reliance Footprint, and Chennai Live FM. Tennishub.in will be ‘Official Merchandise Partner’ of the tournament.

    Star Sports had bagged the broadcast deal for three years for the Open till 2016. Fans can watch the live telecast of group stage, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the open on its channels and live streaming will also be available on starsports.com.

    The tournament, which first began in 1996 and owned by IMG and organised by IMG Reliance, has set a budget of Rs 12 crore. The title sponsor provides 42 per cent of the revenue which is five crore, the other sponsors bring in 37 per cent of the revenue amounting Rs 4.5 crore, the broadcast partner brings in 17 per cent of the revenue share, which is close to two crore while the ticket revenue is pegged close to Rs 50 lakh.

    For this year’s edition the assembly of talent includes four top-25 players and three 2014 ATP World Tour Award winners who will be participating. These include world number four and defending Singles champion Stan Wawrinka, Feliciano Lopez, Roberto Bautista Agut, and former Champion Janko Tipsarevic, returning to competitive tennis after surgery and granted a wild card. India’s Somdev Devvarman and Ramkumar Ramanathan have been granted wild cards

    The tickets of the tournament have been priced at Rs 5,000, 3,000 and 1,500 on the tournaments official ticketing partner, bookmyshow.com.

    Speaking about the three tennis league in India, GroupM ESP national director entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik says, “The Champions Tennis League may need some improvement, while the IPTL has created a mark in terms of visibility because of the big stars . Tennis is still considered to be a premium sport. Therefore, one needs to build affinity for the sport, since the affinity levels are low because there are not many people playing the sport. Therefore consistency, in terms of ratings, viewership and followers will not be there for the three leagues.  But these three are trying to create enough buzz that at least the urban youth start playing tennis.” he concludes.

     

  • Percept Sports and Entertainment bags 35th National Games

    Percept Sports and Entertainment bags 35th National Games

    MUMBAI: Percept Sports and Entertainment, the integrated sports management and entertainment company of Percept, has been appointed as the official marketing activation agency of the 35th National Games, India’s premier sporting event.

     

    The 35th edition of the National Games will be held over a span of 15 days beginning from 31 January 2015 to 14 February 2015 in the staggeringly beautiful state of Kerala.

     
    The mandate for the games involves various ground activations and event administration duties.  This includes multiple activities like game announcements, school activations, flash mobs, countdown timer installations, media launches etc. Given the range of entertainment, media and communications solution offerings available across the Percept Group, PSE has already synergized with Percept Picture Company to shoot a TV commercial with Sachin Tendulkar who is the brand ambassador for the games. It will also look at an alliance with other Percept Group Companies to provide customised products and a complete marketing/activation and branding solution.

     
    The multi-evaluation pitch involved the participation of various other leading agencies with Percept Sports and Entertainment ultimately emerging victorious due to its concept presentation, creative rendition, strong credentials, and a competitive bid. The operation of the games will be handled by PSE out of its Mumbai office with a regional office set-up in Trivandrum.

     
    Percept Sports and Entertainment won the account in November 2014 and has already put a team in place. The agency has begun some of the work which will go on and gain momentum from the first week of January nearing the date of the games.

     
    Percept Sports and Entertainment chief executive officer Sanjay Shukla said, ‘’It is a matter of great pride to be associated with such a prestigious event as the National Games. We are glad to have been given this opportunity to be part of an event that has the potential to make India emerge as an all rounded sporting power. We will strive to make the 35th edition of the National Games the very best the country and the world has seen. To have won such an important and comprehensive pitch is a great honour for us and we look forward to a successful partnership with National Games.”

     

  • 123 players retained, 5 traded across teams for Pepsi IPL 2015 season

    123 players retained, 5 traded across teams for Pepsi IPL 2015 season

    MUMBAI: A total of 123 cricketers including 79 Indians and 44 overseas players were retained by the franchises for the 2015 Pepsi Indian Premier season. Five Indian cricketers have been traded during the window for player trade this year.

    The window for the franchises to extend the player contracts on existing terms for Pepsi IPL season closed on Dec 15, 2014.

     
    Ranjib Biswal, Chairman IPL, commented: ‘Teams have the right, at their sole election, to extend player contracts for another season. This allows for teams to make any course corrections to their squads as a way to strengthen their team ahead of the next season. It is a way to balance the need for continuity whilst allowing for churn which is very important from the league’s perspective. The released players will have the option to put their names up for the player auction for the 2015 season’.

     
    Teams have a total salary purse of Rs 63 crore for the 2015 season (5% increase over the 2014 season purse). The salaries of the players retained will be deducted from this amount.

     
    The details of players retained and released can be viewed at www.iplt20.com
     

     

  • WWE adds 25% ad revenue growth for Ten Sports

    WWE adds 25% ad revenue growth for Ten Sports

    MUMBAI: “In the last quarter, we saw 25 per cent growth in ad revenue from WWE,” says Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi while adding, “We are expecting this to jump higher by at least 50 per cent in the next calendar year with our fresh content and programming lineup.”

     

    The network in the last quarter has added four new advertisers from FMCG and e-commerce sector, who have previously not advertised with WWE.

     

    The optimistic note comes as Ten Sports gears itself to launch the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in a new avatar for Indian audiences, next year. Properties like RAW and specials will simulcast from USA on Ten Sports, beginning January 2015.

     

    Explaining the reason behind doing so even though the programme will be aired as early as 5:30-6:00 am, Sethi says, “We are trying to kill the time gap of 72 hours that exists today and move as close as possible towards live feed. Secondly, this will also help kill digital piracy which we want to curtail.”

     

    The network with this move wants to provide flexibility and opportunity for fans to watch WWE as close as possible.  To avoid being affected by ratings, the channel will have repeats of the show through the week. It will also air the repeat telecast of RAW with Hindi commentary. As it sees the Hindi feed as a value addition to the property. “WWE is a property that has deep penetration in the Indian hinterlands and is not confined to tier I and tier II cities. To further expand our base and coverage of WWE, we are going ahead with the Hindi feed for some programmes and after measuring the response, might get into other regional languages also,” he adds.

     

    The lineup of WWE has been changing from the  last three to four months as fictional aspects are being brought in, which is where female audience share been able to connect better to the property. “In addition, we have the young people who are our captive audiences.  DIVA, aired in the evening, has a huge segment attached to it. We are summing up together different segments rather than just the teenage segment,” Sethi informs.  According to Sethi audiences from the age group of seven to seventy can connect to the property. A customised special show with local connect will be seen on the network soon while to attract kids, animated snippets revolving around WWE will be aired.

    A live on-ground event too is being planned for the next year between October and November, which will have WWE superstars performing live in India.

    The channel head also plans to have VoD on its digital channel in the year ahead.

     

  • Sony Six’s on-ground activities push NBA’s viewership

    Sony Six’s on-ground activities push NBA’s viewership

    MUMBAI: If numbers are to be believed then basketball has started getting its due in the cricket-crazy country.

     The National Basketball Association (NBA) is seeing its popularity levels scale upwards on television thanks to a wide on-ground marketing push. Sony Six, which broadcasts the NBA action, has seen a 70 per cent increase in its viewership this season, claims the channel. When asked about the reasons behind the same, the channel’s business head Prasana Krishnan says, “One, the overall penetration and popularity of the game is increasing in India.  Two, our on-ground marketing initiatives in 16 cities, which propelled this growth. We have been marketing the brand and product intensively.”

    NBA India and Multi Screen Media (MSM) had signed a three year television agreement beginning 2012.

    NBA India, this year, launched its on ground activity, the NBA JAM in 16 cities. The event which took place from 22 September to 6 December featured a 3 on 3 tournament format, which had more than 3,000 teams participating. The tournament also saw more than 600 colleges participating. The 16 cities included Chennai, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Indore, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai. In Mumbai, celebrity Neetu Chandra was roped along with the Sacramento Kings dance team, who were flown in from the US to entertain fans during the event.

    Krishnan says that one of the key learning’s for the channel from this season was that it witnessed a growth in southern markets. “Last year, we visited only Bangalore and Hyderabad. This year, besides these two, we also visited Kochi and Chennai where these markets have improved. So have also interior markets, like Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Chandigarh etc.” Krishnan informs.  It was also the core marketing proposition of the channel during the launch this year.

    The business head opines that the potential for continued growth in non-cricket sports properties is very high and the challenge ahead for the channel would be to continue the momentum. He feels that the biggest challenge ahead can be transformed into the biggest opportunity which is to make the sport better entrenched and bigger in the country.

    Speaking on this success of the new found sport, Group M ESP national director- entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik says, “After football, if there is a low hanging fruit, it is basketball. This is because most schools in India have had a basket, if not a proper court.  It is one of the most sampled sports at the school level but since for a long time nothing concrete was organised for players in the country, the game never got its dues. But with NBA and its 3 by 3 format, these schools and colleges will bring the sport back in lime light and the potential is set to grow.”

     

  • Jayawardene, Afridi, the most experienced players in ICC Cricket WC 2015

    Jayawardene, Afridi, the most experienced players in ICC Cricket WC 2015

    MUMBAI: Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and Shahid Afridi of Pakistan are in line to become the most experienced players in ICC Cricket World Cup history, after they were named in provisional squads for the tournament that starts on 14 February.

     

    The two players made their World Cup debuts at the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999, and have appeared in every event since then.

     

    While Jayawardene featured in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 and 2011, as well as the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, Shahid Afridi was a member of the Pakistan side that played the final at Lord’s in 1999. He captained Pakistan at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 where Pakistan reached the semi-final.

     

    If the two players are named in the final line-ups, likely to be announced around 8 January 2015, then they will join the exclusive company of Wasim Akram, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Aravinda de Silva, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Sanath Jayasuriya, Jacques Kallis, Imran Khan, Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralidaran, Thomas Odoyo, Ricky Ponting, Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Tikolo, who have each played in five ICC Cricket World Cups to date.

     

    Pakistan’s Javed Miandad and India’s Sachin Tendulkar, with six ICC Cricket World Cups each, share the record for the most appearances at ICC’s pinnacle event.

     

    Interestingly, this will be the first ICC Cricket World Cup which will be held without either Javed Miandad or Sachin Tendulkar. Javed Miandad played from 1975 to 1996, while Tendulkar represented his country from 1992-2011.

     

    Miandad featured in semi-finals in 1979, 1983 and 1987, final in 1992 and quarter-final in 1996, while Tendulkar appeared in the 1996 quarter-final, and 2003 and 2011 finals.

    Besides Jayawardene and Shahid Afridi, seven other players are in line to appear in their fourth World Cup: James Anderson, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Younis Khan, Robin Peterson, Kumar Sangakkara and Daniel Vettori.

     

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is returning the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time since 1996, has named the oldest and youngest players of the tournament in its 30-player provisional squad. Khurram Khan at 43 is the oldest players (born 21 June 1971) while Yodhin Punja, who turned 15 on 24 April 2014, is the youngest player.

     

     

    The provisional squads are:

     

    Australia (squad submitted but has opted not to release the names)

     

    Afghanistan – Afsar Zazai, Aftab Alam, Amir Hamza, Asghar Stanekzai, Dawlat Zadran, Fareed Ahmad, Fazal Rahman, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Izatullah, Javed Ahmadi, Karim Sadiq, Merwais Ashraf, Mohammad Mujtaba, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Najeeb Tarakai, Najibullah Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Nawroz Mangal, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shinwari, Shabir Noori, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran, Sharafudin, Usman Ghani and Yamin Ahmadzai.

     

    Bangladesh – Abdur Razzak, Abul Hasan Raju, Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Arafat Sunny, Imrul Kayes, Jubair Hossain, Liton Kumar Das, Mahmudullah, Marshall Ayub, Masrafe Bin Mortaza, Mohammad Elias, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammed Sahid, Mominul Haque, Muktar Ali, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shabbir Rahaman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Shamsur Rahman, Shuvagata Hom, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Tamim Iqbal and Ziaur Rahman.

     

    England – Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Gary Ballance,

    Ian Bell, Sam Billings, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jack Brooks, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Stephen Parry, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Boyd Rankin, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, James Vince, Chris Woakes and Luke Wright.

     

    Ireland (squad submitted but has opted not to release the names)

     

    India – Varun Aaron, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashoke Dinda, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Virat Kohli, Dhawal Kulkarni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Parveez Rasool, Ambati Rayudu, Wriddhiman Saha, Sanju Samson, Ishant Sharma, Karn Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Murali Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav.

     

    New Zealand – Corey Anderson, Hamish Bennett, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Neil Broom, Dean Brownlie, Colin de Grandhomme, Anton Devcich, Grant Elliott, Andrew Ellis, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Ronnie Hira, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Rob Nicol, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling and Kane Williamson.

     

    Pakistan – Ahmad Shahzad, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Ehsan Adil, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Misbah Ul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Talha, Nasir Jamshed, Raza Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Sami Aslam, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Younus Khan and Zulfiqar Babar.

     

    Scotland (24 player announced) – Preston Mommsen (captain), Kyle Coetzer (vice-captain), Richie Berrington, Frederick Coleman, Matthew Cross, Joshua Davey, Alasdair Evans, Hamish Gardiner, Gordon Goudie, Majid Haq, Moneeb Iqbal, Michael Leask, Matt Machan, Calum MacLeod, Gavin Main, George Munsey, David Murphy, Safyaan Sharif, Ruaidhri Smith, Robert Taylor, Andrew Umeed, Craig Wallace, Iain Wardlaw, Mark Watt

     

    South Africa – AB de Villiers (captain), Hashim Amla (vice-capt), Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Andrew Puttick, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk and David Wiese.

     

    Sri Lanka – Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shaminda Eranga, Lahiru Gamage, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Dimuth Karunaratne, Tharindu Kaushal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhammika Prasad, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ashan Priyanjan, Lakshan Sandakan, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Ramith Rambukwella, Lahiru Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga and Kithuruwan Vithanage.

     

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Ahmed Raza, Ahsan Ali, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Andri Raffaelo, Asadullah Shareef, Chirag Suri, Fahad Alhasimi, Faizan Asif, Fayyaz Ahmed, Irfan Sajid, Kamran Shahzad, Khurram Khan, K. Karate, Manjula Guruge, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Tauqir, Nasir Aziz, Noor Ul Amin, Rohan Mustafa, Rohit Singh, Salman Farooq, Saqib Ali, Saqlain Haider, Shaiman Anwar, Swapnil Patil, Usman Mushtaq, Umair Ali and Yodhin Punja.

     

    West Indies – Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Miguel Cummins, Narsingh Deonarine, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Imran Khan, Evin Lewis, Marquino Mindley, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Veerasammy Permaul, Keon Peters, Keiron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith and Jerome Taylor.

     

    Zimbabwe – Sikandar Butt, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Brian Chari, Elton Chigumbura, Justice Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Neville Madziva, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Winstone Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Timycen Maruma, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Natsai M’shangwe, Solomon Mire, Peter Moor, Tawanda Mupariwa, Cuthbert Musoko, Richmond Mutumbami, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams and Cephas Zhuwao.

     

  • Ten Sports to have WWE Hindi feed starting January 2015

    Ten Sports to have WWE Hindi feed starting January 2015

    MUMBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment popularly known as WWE is set to further grow as a sports property and find a new flavour in India.  Taking a leap, the network Ten Sports has decided to provide language commentary in Hindi for the repeat telecast of RAW. A special customised show is also being introduced which will be in Hinglish produced out of a studio. Another programme, the Main Event will be introduced for the first time in India, which will be a combined package of RAW and Smackdown.

    According to sources, established flagship properties like RAW and specials will have a live simulcast on Ten Sports as from USA, beginning January 2015.  The timings for these programmes will be between 5:30 am to 6 am.  Not to be deterred by ratings, the network will telecast repeats of the show.

    The development comes in the wake of Taj TV and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) signing a new agreement in September 2014, as per which starting January 2015, WWE will be available exclusively on the Ten Sports Network, for a further five years till 2019.

    WWE has been broadcast on Ten Sports since the launch of the channel in 2002. WWE together with Ten Sports will be investing little over $100 million in the Indian market as part of the new agreement.

    Ten Sports which is looking at a major revamp early next year, also has acquired the Indian sub-continent broadcast rights for the 2018 Common Wealth Games to be held in Gold Coast Australia. The network has a bouquet of premium football properties from across the globe including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League among others.

     

  • Will keep away from IPL, says Srinivasan to SC

    Will keep away from IPL, says Srinivasan to SC

    MUMBAI: International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman and BCCI president in exile N Srinivasan has told the Supreme Court of India, that if he is re-elected, he would keep away from the IPL  governing council, till the proposed council decides on the issue of conflict of interest involving him and his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. Hi son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan is an alleged accused in the IPL betting scam.

    Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing as his counsel told the bench comprising Justice T.S Thakur and Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla, that if the apex court permitted elections and in the probability that Srinivasan wins, he would keep away from the Indian Premier League council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) meetings wherein issues relating to the IPL will be discussed.

    Meanwhile media reports also suggested that the BCCI is not in favour of an external committee to look into Srinivasan’s conflict of interest suggesting that it would affect the autonomy the board enjoys.

    This comes in the wake of the Cricket Association of Bihar filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that has asked for the disqualification of Srinivasan as being a part of the BCCI and owner of Chennai Super Kings is a direct conflict of interest.