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  • ICC confirms resignation of Mustafa Kamal as president

    ICC confirms resignation of Mustafa Kamal as president

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that Mustafa Kamal has tendered his resignation as the cricket body’s president with immediate effect.

     

    In his resignation letter to ICC chief executive David Richardson, Kamal said he was stepping down on personal grounds and offered his apologies to all associated with the ICC, while adding that he had no complaints to make against anyone.

     

    “Let the game of cricket under the leadership of ICC touch the hearts and minds of every cricket lover,” he wrote in his letter.

     

    The ICC Board will now consider the vacant position of the ICC president at its forthcoming meeting in Dubai on 15 and 16 April.

  • Cricket World Cup 2015 creates new records of reach & popularity

    Cricket World Cup 2015 creates new records of reach & popularity

    MUMBAI: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has become one of the most popular sporting spectacles in the world. With two double-centuries, seven scores in excess of 150 and 38 centuries, there has been no shortage of batting prowess on display in Australia and New Zealand over the past seven weeks. And 28 four-wicket hauls, including two hat-tricks, mean the bowlers have played their part, too.

     

    On the field, players and team officials have reported being delighted with the quality of pitches, outfields and training facilities. The pick of the group stage matches from an attendance point of view was the India versus South Africa game on 22 February at the Melbourne Cricket Ground at which there were more than 86,000 people cheering on their respective teams, a phenomenal result given that neither of the host teams were involved.

     

    The news doesn’t stop there as people have been tuning in to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in greater numbers than ever before. Broadcast by 44 licensees, in seven languages across 220 territories, the India versus Pakistan group match drew an approximate television audience of more than 288 million in India alone, while the Australia versus England match was watched by 2.1 million people in Australia.

     

    There are 10 radio licensees broadcasting the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 matches live into 80 territories and for those following the tournament on new media, the website has attracted 26.25 million visitors accumulating an incredible 227 million page views, which is a significant increase on any previous ICC event. And the tournament app has so far been downloaded 3.6 million times and has been the number-one sports app in no fewer than 48 countries.

     

    ICC chief executive David Richardson said, “These numbers provide a tangible measure of the success of the event – this Cricket World Cup has been the most followed and best attended cricket event in history. All over the world, hundreds of millions of fans have been enthralled by the quality of cricket on show, the exploits of the world’s top players and the colour of the festival across both host nations.” He further added “With nearly 1,400 members of the media attending the event, it’s fair to say that, all in all, the cricket-loving public around the world have been very well served. And we now look forward to a fitting finale on 29 March – hopefully another special occasion for the game.”

  • ICC World Cup: Star likely to hike ad rates by 15-20% in knockout stage

    ICC World Cup: Star likely to hike ad rates by 15-20% in knockout stage

    MUMBAI: As the ICC Cricket World Cup moves into the knockout stage, interest levels in the tourney, which is being played Down Under, are rising. And cashing in on this opportunity, Star Sports is looking at escalating its ad rates to rake in more moolah.   

     

    Sources in media planning and buying fraternity told Indiantelevision.com that the broadcaster was looking at a hike of at least seven – ten per cent in the ad rates for the knockout stages. Star, however, is claiming a hike of 15 to 20 per cent compared to the rate of the league stages.

     

    A source in Star Sports further revealed, “From the semi final stages, we will have a number of fresh sponsors and advertisers coming in as numerous deals at the earlier stages were signed only till the quarter final stage. Interest of the matches will decide the ad rates and if India qualifies for the semi finals, the rates will certainly see a substantial hike.”

     

    Speaking on the commercial growth of the tournament so far, Helios Media managing director Divya Radhakrishnan says, “India has played well so far and will face Bangladesh in the Quarters, which adds the possibilities of a semi-final berth and hence the demand of the tournament is way higher when compared to the league stages. The advertisers, who gambled to participate in the early stages, got the best price because now the ad rate is sky high.”

     

    GroupM national director entertainment, sports & live events Vineet Karnik asserts, “India’s performance in the triangular series Down Under was below par, which resulted in a slow beginning to the World Cup in terms of advertiser participation. However, as India started playing well, the tournament gained momentum. Now in the knockout stages, the demand is high and naturally Star will increase the ad rate substantially.”

     

    As the ICC World Cup entered the business end of the tournament, 14 teams tried with only eight succeeding to reach the knockout stages. Despite having a below par start, Pakistan securing a berth in the quarters, was a key highlight in the tourney. Lower run rate led to Ireland’s disqualification in the knockout stage as it tied with West Indies, which also managed six points from the league stages. However, the eyebrow raiser of the tournament was Bangladesh, who stunned England to book a berth in the quarters.

     

    Earlier today (18 March), South Africa stormed through to the semis after brutally thrashing Sri Lanka by nine wickets. Bangladesh will play India tomorrow (19 March), who is undisputed so far in the tourney and has decimated each and every batting attack. If India wins the quarter final match, it will face the winner of the Australia vs Pakistan match. This in turn can lead to a probable Indo-Pak bout. India Vs Pakistan match is always an intense battle on and off the field. 

     

    While the two teams sweat out to win the match, advertisers exert themselves to create an exquisite presentation in order to grab more eyeballs. Alongside, Star India will prepare its business strategy to generate as much revenue as possible. The ad rates will see a substantial hike and last moment contributors will definitely need to have deep pockets indeed.

  • Downloads soar for Reliance Communications’ cricket World Cup app

    Downloads soar for Reliance Communications’ cricket World Cup app

    MUMBAI: As the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 now moves towards the knock-out stages, the global cricketing body today said that the action on the pitch during the Pool stages has been matched with remarkable levels of interest in the tournament across all online channels from around the world.

     

    For example, the official ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 App, which it launched in partnership with Reliance Communications, has seen success for a cricket app reaching over 3.35 million downloads, claims ICC. It has topped the charts as the number one downloaded sports app in 48 countries.

     

    The app, which is available for free download via the Google Play and Apple App stores, has received rave reviews with the ICC CWC Match Centre, in-match clips, fixtures, exclusive videos and real-time statistical updates being enjoyed worldwide.

     

    On the official tournament website, traffic levels have grown over 1,500 per cent since the last major ICC event and there have been over 26 million unique visitors to the website since the beginning of the tournament, claims ICC. These visitors have made up over 225 million page views.

     

    Of particular interest has been the new ICC Cricket World Cup Match Centre. The Match Centre has the fastest live scores available online and now offers real time statistics and insights using live and historical ICC Cricket World Cup data to deliver match analysis to fans around the world. The video clips of match action from the tournament itself have been popular with fans from over 200 countries watching back on the best moments from on the pitch, with over 24 million video plays combined across website and app.

     

    On social media platforms too there has been more interest than ever before for a global cricket event as millions of people interact with the tournament. Additionally, the exclusive post-match player of the match Twitter Mirror selfies gives the opportunity to ask the winning captain a question via the Global Broadcast using the hash tag, #AskCaptain. Fans have also used the Google + Facepaint feature to show their colours on the big-screens of all the grounds and over on Facebook millions have watched the latest episodes of #CWCDaily.

     

    On Twitter, the discussion around #cwc15 has also been very large, with over eight million tweets sent around the tournament with over 800 million live tweet impressions from the group stages. This comprises a 250 per cent growth in the conversation around #cwc15. The tournament’s match hashtags have also regularly trended on both Twitter and GooglePlus.

     

    Globally on Facebook, 36 million people have generated 341 million interactions with cricket becoming a regularly trending topic throughout February and March.

  • Jagmohan Dalmiya is Rocky Balboa of India

    Jagmohan Dalmiya is Rocky Balboa of India

    BCCI elections are always overhyped. Sometimes the hype even crosses the level of Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections. It is impossible to make out who is supporting whom, who is foe and who is friend. N. Srinivasan joined hands with Sharad Pawar and Ranbir Singh Mahendra to dethrone Jagmohan Dalmiya in 2004 and now 10 years later Srinivasan seconding Dalmiya is indeed unpredictable. Isn’t it?

     

    Unless Sharad Pawar is certain that he is going to win the election, he won’t contest it and that’s what exactly happened. It’s nothing new. Every time during BCCI elections we see such mutual understandings or adjustments. I would term it old wine in new bottle.

     

    Indian cricket has reached an abysmal low with so much of judicial introspection and legal obligations and it is highly important to regain the integrity of the game. Officials need to plan and act so that they can earn back the faith of cricket lovers, like me, who follow the sport. Why do we need a Supreme Court to intervene when there is a Board and its legal bodies and guidelines? The first priority of the board should be ensuring the fans that they are following a clean sport.

     

    Now the newly elected President is not someone new to BCCI, neither is he a politician. He has proved himself in numerous occasions. It was Dalmiya along with I S Bindra who won the rights for hosting World Cup in South Asia. When he joined BCCI it was not a very rich body, but when he left, BCCI was the richest cricket board of the world. His contribution to ICC is also of very high standard. Overall he is a veteran cricket administrator, who has adequate knowledge of the sport. He has all the potential to repair the damage done; he did it in the past too. Indian cricket was brutally affected by match fixing in 1999 -2000 but he got people’s faith back to the game. I have high expectations from Jagmohan Dalmiya as a liberal and unbiased cricket analyst and I hope he delivers. I will end with a comparison, Jagmohan Dalmiya is Rocky Balboa of India, no matter how much you try to pin him down he always gets up to deliver the knockout blow.

     

    (These are purely personal views of Former first class cricketer and a veteran cricket analyst Hemant Kenkre and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • ICC to induct Martin Crowe in Hall of Fame

    ICC to induct Martin Crowe in Hall of Fame

    MUMBAI: New Zealand great Martin Crowe, one of the most stylish and elegant batsmen of his generation, will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 match between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park in Auckland on 28 February.

     

    When Crowe receives his commemorative cap from ICC director and chairman of Cricket Australia, Wally Edwards, during the innings break, he will become the 79th inductee into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and third New Zealand player after Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley.

     

    Crowe made his international debut against Australia in Wellington in February 1982 at the age of 19. He retired 13 years later after playing 77 Tests, scoring 5,444 runs at an average of 45.36. This included 17 centuries (the most by a New Zealand cricketer), while his 299 against Sri Lanka in Wellington in January 1991 stood as a national record until Brendon McCullum scored 302 against India in Wellington last year in February.

     

    Crowe also played 143 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in which he scored 4,704 runs at an average of 38.55 with four centuries and 34 half-centuries. He played in three ICC Cricket World Cups, and led New Zealand to the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 where his side lost to eventual champion Pakistan in Auckland. However, his innovative captaincy and most runs in the series won him player of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 award. Crowe captained New Zealand in 16 Tests and 44 ODIs.

     

    Last week in Melbourne, former India Test captain Anil Kumble and Australia’s Betty Wilson were inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

     

    ICC Cricket Hall of Fame – initial inductees (55)

     

    Sydney Barnes, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Gibbs, Graham Gooch, David Gower, WG Grace, Tom Graveney, Gordon Greenidge, Richard Hadlee, Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey, George Headley, Jack Hobbs, Michael Holding, Leonard Hutton, Rohan Kanhai, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Jim Laker, Harold Larwood, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Clive Lloyd, Hanif Mohammad, Rodney Marsh, Malcolm Marshall, Peter May, Javed Miandad, Keith Miller, Bill O’Reilly, Graeme Pollock, Wilfred Rhodes, Barry Richards, Vivian Richards, Andy Roberts, Garfield Sobers, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Derek Underwood, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell

     

    2009-10 Inductees

    Herbert Sutcliffe, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Victor Trumper and Clarrie Grimmett

     

    2010-11 Inductees

    Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Ken Barrington, Courtney Walsh and Joel Garner

     

    2011-12 Inductees

    Belinda Clark, Frederick Spofforth, Curtly Ambrose and Alan Davidson

     

    2012-13 Inductees

    Enid Bakewell, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne

     

    2013-14 Inductees

    Adam Gilchrist, Debbie Hockley, Bob Simpson and Waqar Younis

     

    2014-15 Inductees

    Anil Kumble, Betty Wilson and Martin Crowe. One more to be announced in due course

  • Sachin Tendulkar upbeat about World Cup 2015

    Sachin Tendulkar upbeat about World Cup 2015

    MUMBAI: ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 ambassador Sachin Tendulkar has predicted that the event will be even more competitive as it progresses after the first 10 days produced exciting and entertaining cricket.

     

    Talking to the ICC on the sidelines of India versus South Africa match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, the maestro advised the sides and the players to find and maintain the right balance so that they remain fresh and ready for the big matches and yet maintain any momentum they have established early in the tournament.

     

    “It’s been exciting. You’ve already seen a couple of surprises. The teams have played competitive cricket,” Tendulkar, who is the record-holder for most runs and hundreds in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), said.

     

    “The standard has been good, and that is what people want to witness. I feel as the tournament progresses it’s going to produce some fantastic cricket and we’re looking forward to it. I think to have the same successful combination going all the way is going to be the key and to find that balance between staying fresh and not overburdening yourself with additional practice sessions. You just need to find that right balance. If somebody’s not playing well, then obviously that guy needs to go out and hit as many balls as possible in the nets or bowl as many balls as possible. But if everything is going well, then it’s important to have that energy and peak at the right time,” he said.

     

    Tendulkar, who was the player of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, said ODIs were now producing more runs and centuries due to changes in playing conditions as well as the emergence of the Twenty20 format.

     

    “We’ve been witnessing high-scoring games because of two reasons. One is because the rule has changed. There is one less fielder outside the circle. So, that makes a huge difference. The game opens up completely and that becomes difficult for bowlers to consistently find those areas to work because there is one less fielder, which forces you to bowl different lengths and different lines. The second point is also the introduction of T20 format, which has allowed the batters to play more risky shots, play innovative shots, and the guys regularly practice these shots in the nets,” he added.

     

    “How many times in the 80s or 90s did you see someone playing a reverse sweep off a fast bowler, which happens in today’s cricket? If batsmen have to chase at eight runs an over, it’s not something beyond their reach, because in T20 you play 20 overs with asking run-rate sometimes of nine or even more than that. So it’s just the mental set-up and the belief that even if it goes to nine runs and over, we can still hit that target,” said the India icon who retired from cricket in November 2013.

     

    Speaking about his journey as a 14-year-old ball boy to ICC Cricket World Cup ambassador and the experience of not being involved in an ICC Cricket World Cup as a player for the first time in 23 years, Tendulkar said, “First of all, I’d like to thank ICC for nominating my name as Ambassador of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and 2015. I remember I was a 14-year-old boy and I was sitting outside the dressing room as a ball boy in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1987. So, from there to become the Ambassador of the ICC Cricket World Cup is a special journey and I’m excited. This is a new experience to me where I’m watching an ICC Cricket World Cup match from the stands. The atmosphere is fantastic. Absolutely, it is something that I have experienced but not sitting in the stands. I was always on the other side of the fence. To be sitting in the stands and to feel this atmosphere is incredible. Being a World Cup Ambassador I’m supposed to be neutral, but my heart says something and my brain says something. So, I’ve got to stick to my heart and support India,” he said.

  • DD to continue showing World Cup 2015 matches: Supreme Court

    DD to continue showing World Cup 2015 matches: Supreme Court

    NEW DELHI: Disposing off the application by Star Sports seeking vacation of an interim stay ordered earlier, the Supreme Court today ruled that Doordarshan will continue to show the World Cup 2015 cricket matches and share the feed with cable operators. 
     
    The apex Court had on 10 February stayed a judgment of the Delhi High Court of 4 February, which had said that Prasar Bharati cannot share its signals with cable operators.
     
     
    The Supreme Court directive came on an appeal by Prasar Bharati, which had taken the plea that the law was clear as far as the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007 and the must carry clause were concerned. Even the High Court had refused to strike down the Act or the must carry clause.
     
     
    The order today is by way of disposing the application by Star Sports seeking a vacation of the stay order. However, the matter will now come up for hearing in due course for detailed arguments. It is learnt from legal sources that the case may come up for further arguments in June.
     
     
    In an additional affidavit filed at the instance of the apex court, Star Sports had said that it was losing around Rs 290 crore every year by sharing its sports signals with Doordarshan and was expecting to lose around Rs 120 crore by sharing the telecast of the World Cup this year. (Under the Act, the rights holder gets 75 per cent of the revenue from the telecast on DD. The remaining 25 per cent is retained by DD.)
     
     
    On the suggestion by Star Sports that DD should run a separate channel without the signals of the World Cup for cable operators or run a scroll that the World Cup telecasts are not meant for cable operators, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had yesterday pointed out that DD had 1400 transmitters all over the country and it was technically not feasible for DD to run a separate channel. Rohatgi told the court that it was mandatory for a private channel under the Sports Act and the Cable TV Network Act to share the feeds of matches of “national importance” with Prasar Bharati for providing it on DD’s free-to-air terrestrial channels.
     
    The apex court had on 17 February asked the pubcaster to give its response on the possibility of launching a separate channel. Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose extended the interim order allowing Doordarshan to telecast the matches. 
     
    Senior advocate P. Chidambaram on behalf of ESPN and Star Sports said Prasar Bharati could create a mirror image of the World Cup telecast, which does not go to cable operators.
     
     
    Star Sports said its experts could help Prasar Bharati in creation of a channel that only carried entertainment programmes minus the World Cup telecasts.
     
    In its judgment, the High Court had refused to strike down the must carry clause of 2000 under which cable operators have to carry signals of Doordarshan, and also the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007.
     
     
    A bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva passed the order on the plea of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), ESPN and Star who had contended that cable TV operators were getting live feeds through DD channels free of cost, resulting in loss of revenue for them.
     
     
    In the order, the Court had said: “The appeal as well as writ petition (civil) 8458/2007 are allowed to the extent that the live broadcasting signal shared by ESPN/STAR by virtue of the Sports Act with Prasar Bharati, shall not be carried in the designated Doordarshan channels under the must carry obligation cast by the Cable TV Network Act on cable operators. This shall operate prospectively.”
     
     
    In its directive, the Court had observed that while the advertisement revenue received by DD in respect of the shared content of the sports channels was to be shared in the ratio of not less than 75:25, “it still does not cater to the loss of subscription revenue” by ESPN and Star.

    BCCI, Nimbus Communications Ltd and the two sports channels (ESPN and Star) had challenged the high court’s single judge November 2007 order rejecting their pleas that no cable television network, Direct-to-Home (DTH) Network, multi-system network or local cable operator could broadcast such sports events without a licence from the content owners.  

  • Social media: An alternate playground for World Cup 2015

    Social media: An alternate playground for World Cup 2015

     MUMBAI: While Australia and New Zealand are the epicentre of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook too are planning to make the most of the event by not only introducing a host of innovations but also seeing a number of mentions on these platforms.

     

    Since sports is the ultimate real-time experience, fans on Twitter are getting live updates from their favourite teams, players, coaches, writers, celebrities and fellow fans.

     

    For these reasons, the micro blogging site has created a special Cricket World Cup 2015 timeline called as #CWC15 timeline. According to twitter the most followed players from each of the 14 countries are Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan, Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, Virat Kohli of India, Ross Taylor of New Zealand, Michael Clarke of Australia, Kyle Coetzer of Scotland and Stuart Broad of England. From team Ireland Kevin O’Brien is the most followed from the country and from team South Africa AB De Villiers is the most followed on twitter.

     

    Kumar Sangakara is the most followed cricketer from the island country while Shahid Afridi has made it to the list from neighbouring Pakistan. Chris Gayle is the most followed from West Indies while Brendan Taylor is the most followed from Zimbabwe. 

     

    The micro blogging site has also come up with a twitter dream team. This dream team is composed of the most-mentioned players on the site over the past 12 months, forming a first XI. Those who made to the coveted list are Ahmed Shehzad of Pakistan, Virat Kohli of India, Younis Khan of Pakistan, M S Dhoni from India, Mitchell Johnson from Australia, James Anderson and Stuart Broad from England, Shahid Afridi from Pakistan, Moeen Ali from England, Michael Clarke from Australia and Rohit Sharma from India.

     

    With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Twitter partnering for the World Cup, the cricket body’s account provides access to the players, and it’s where they will be posting photos, videos and breaking news from inside the camp of the Men in Blue. 

     

    Speaking about the same, Twitter India and Southeast Asia market director Rishi Jaitly says, “In India, Twitter is focused on reaching every person with a mobile phone and this product is in service of that goal. We applaud the BCCI for taking the initiative to make it even more accessible for fans to stay in touch with the latest on Indian cricket.”

     

    Twitter has also introduced digital innovations for the coveted tournament. For instance it has come up with a daily recap video on the native video player. If one has missed any of the live action, ICC will send a native video tweet at the end of every match day. This is exclusive to people following the account and will have some of the best action from the game and expert views. The five minute show will go out each evening showcasing each key element of that day’s match.

     

    Meanwhile digital service provider  ‘TO THE NEW’ has come up with some trends it picked up during India’s clash against Pakistan, where the neighbouring country were thrashed bitterly by the Men in Blue. According to the report, the most number of tweets came from India (74.5 per cent), Pakistan ( 5.8 per cent ), Saudi Arabia (4.4 per cent), USA (4.3 per cent) and UK (2.8 per cent) while that of the other countries put together stood at 8.1 per cent.

     

    The report further states that 79 per cent of the tweets were by males while females made up for 21 per cent of the tweets during the match.

     

    According to Twitter India, there were a total of 118.3 million live tweet impressions during the clash of the titans. The top three tweets per minute were when India became victorious by 76 runs (9,987 tweets per minute ). Two, when Virat Kohli scored a top notch century (7,159 tweets per minute) and when Kohli was dismissed by 107 runs (6,916 tweets per minute).

     

    The report also states that the most mentioned players from India were Virat Kohli, M S Dhoni, and Suresh Raina. From Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, and Sohail Khan made it to the list.

     

    Facebook too has become an alternate stadium for the World Cup. Globally nine million people had 25 million interactions about India’s victory over Pakistan. One can join the conversation by posting about the match one is watching by tapping the smiley icon before one shares a post, select the option “watching” and choose the specific match.

     

    Through a “Weekly Corner with Cricket Legends,” it has come up with a six part video Q&A series with some of the world’s leading cricketers. For this one will hav e to keep an eye on the ICC Cricket World Cup page each Monday to see interviews with Shane Warne, Yuvraj Singh, and more. Fans can also find in match highlights on the Star Sports’ Facebook page.

     

    The Facebook blog post can be accessed here: http://media.fb.com/2015/02/16/the-cricket-world-cup-on-facebook/ 

     

    Cricket on Facebook

    Indian Cricket Team

    Star Sports India

    ICC Cricket World Cup page

    ESPN Cricinfo

    Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, India Today

    CNN-IBN, IBN7

    SKY Sport NZ

    FOX Sports Australia

    Liv your fame

    Being Indian Channel

    BigFM Radio

  • Frankly.me ropes in commentator Jatin Sapru

    Frankly.me ropes in commentator Jatin Sapru

    MUMBAI: Frankly.me, a mobile application, which provides a QnA platform to the general public is all set to take the thrill associated with the World Cup experience a notch higher. The app will now host the virtual presence of famed sports presenter – commentator Jatin Sapru, who will take queries from cricket enthusiasts via Frankly.me. 

     

    Star Sports presenter Sapru will be answering public queries during live cricket matches while sharing space with well-known celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Shoaib Akhtar. This is for the first time a commentator is connecting to the public directly during commentary intervals. Frankly.me is providing a chance to all the cricket fans out there to come and connect with the cricket fraternity via video selfies.

     

    Frankly.me co-founder Nikunj Jain said, “The team Frankly.me is really proud and happy with the recent advancements in the platform and it’s steadily rising popularity with the empanelment of noted public figures including politicians. With Frankly.me, these personalities intend to understand the masses and their expectations better. This facilitates them with first-hand information directly from the common people and gives them insights which are more perceptive.”