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  • South Africa sets eye on number one ODI ranking in New Zealand

    South Africa sets eye on number one ODI ranking in New Zealand

     MUMBAI: South Africa has a chance to reclaim the top spot in the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings when it faces New Zealand in first of the three One-Day Internationals (ODIs), which starts on Wednesday in Mount Maunganui.

    South Africa shares second position with India on 113 ratings point, but is ranked behind the reigning world champion by a fraction of the point. The two sides are just one ratings point behind Australia, and a 3-0 series will put South Africa ahead of the four-time world champion by one ratings point.

    If South Africa manages to win all the three matches against New Zealand, then it will reclaim the number-one position for the first time in five years after handing over the baton to Australia following its first-round elimination from ICC Champions Trophy 2009.

    On the other side of the coin, if New Zealand wins the series, then it will leapfrog Pakistan into sixth position. Currently, both Pakistan and New Zealand are on equal points on 98 ratings points but the Black Caps are in seventh position when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

    Meanwhile, AB de Villiers of South Africa goes into the forthcoming series as the number-one ranked batsman in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings and he will be looking to build on his fine recent run of form as the Proteas and Black Caps continue their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 preparations.

    Virat Kohli’s recent progression up the rankings following a good series against the West Indies has pushed Hashim Amla into second position and the South Africa opener will be aiming to reduce the five-point deficit.

    Overall, there are four South Africa batsmen inside the top 20, including de Villiers and Amla, with Quinton de Kock in ninth position and Francois du Plessis in 11th spot, just 19 ratings points behind his team-mate.

    New Zealand’s top-ranked batsman is Ross Taylor who sits in 10th place in the current rankings. There are two more New Zealanders inside the top 20, namely Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill and be eyeing positive improvements in their home series. Skipper Brendon McCullum lies 20 ratings points adrift of his team-mate Guptill.

    On the Reliance ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, South African paceman and LG ICC People’s Choice award nominee, Dale Steyn, will go into the series as the top-ranked bowler in third place, while ninth placed Ryan McLaren is a point adrift of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez. Kyle Mills is Black Caps’ leading bowler in 13th place, with Tim Southee lying a solitary ratings point outside the top 20.

    Incidentally, Mount Maunganui, which is hosting the first two ODIs on Tuesday and Friday, will debut as an international venue this week. The third ODI will be played in Hamilton which will host South Africa’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Pool B clash with Zimbabwe on 15 February. Co-hosts New Zealand will also return to the north island city to face Bangladesh on 13 March.

    Meanwhile, India’s players have made gains in the latest rankings following their 2-1 series win over West Indies.

    Kohli has benefitted the most following his series contribution of 191 runs, which included a top score of 127 in the final match of the series in Dharamsala, as he has climbed one place into second position and 16 points off the top spot.

    West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels has leaped 20 places to 41st after compiling the highest series aggregate of 254 runs with two centuries. India’s Ajinkya Rahane is the other major mover in the batting rankings, moving up nine places to 59th position.

    Amongst the bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is also one the nominees for the LG People’s Choice Award, has shown the most improvement by breaking into the top 10 for the first time by climbing seven places to seventh, just three point off his compatriot Ravindra Jadeja.

    Mohammed Shami ended the series as the most successful bowler with 10 for 174, following on from a fine recent series in England where he claimed eight for 152. Shami has vaulted five places to 16th and in doing so he has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career.

    Jerome Taylor was the West Indies’ leading wicket-taker in the series and his tally of five for 181 in the three ODIs and has helped him return to the bowlers’ table in 143rd position. Andre Russell was another significant advancer and has climbed seven places to joint 63rdposition after claiming two wickets in the series.

    The ICC Player Rankings for all rounders sees Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez lead the way with a significant 24-point gap over Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews.

     

  • ICC broadcast rights till 2023 bagged by Star India

    ICC broadcast rights till 2023 bagged by Star India

    MUMBAI: In one of the most anticipated sports deal, The International Cricket Council (ICC) jointly awarded its audio-visual rights for ICC Events from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East.

     

    Though the exact final value of the rights fee has not been disclosed, it is much in excess of the ICC’s previous commercial deals.

     

    Commenting on the decision to name the two broadcasters as the successful bidders, ICC chairman N Srinivasan said, “We are delighted that our partnership with the Star group has extended to the next cycle of ICC Events. This illustrates the strong relationship we have built in the current cycle and the value we have delivered since 2007.”

     

    He further went on to say that Star has an outstanding reputation as a sports broadcaster and has played an integral role in promoting and growing the game by taking coverage of ICC Events to a truly global and record-breaking audience.

     

    This commitment for the next eight years will ensure greater stability for ICC members as well as increased funding for developing and established countries. Emerging nations will have access to the largest funding resource in the history of the game and the board has fully endorsed this framework as the best means of safeguarding the future of the sport,” he added.

     

    Speaking on the investment by Star,  Srinivasan said the level of investment committed by Star showed that the game is stronger than ever before and hopefully with the financial stability for the next eight years, they could implement plans to strengthen and grow the game further, making it an even bigger and better global game.

     

    The new eight-year period includes 18 ICC tournaments, including two ICC Cricket World Cups (2019 and 2023), two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments (2017 and 2021) and two ICC World Twenty20 tournaments (2016 and 2020).

     

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “We are delighted and honoured to extend our partnership with ICC. This is a tribute to Star’s commitment and ICC’s trust in our ability to take the great game of cricket to the next level. Star will constantly attempt to reinvent the viewer experience to make cricket bigger and bigger.”

     

    The current cycle has seen ESPN Star Sports hold the audio-visual rights until the contract expires at the end of next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

     

    IBC’s finance and commercial affairs committee chairman Giles Clarke commented, “This innovative and exciting partnership will underpin the long-term financial health of the global game and provide real stability for all our members. It will help the ICC and our members to grow participation in areas such as the women’s game where there have been great strides made as well as supporting the emerging nations. This deal benefits all ICC members and will allow them to improve their competitiveness and public interest in a targeted and sustainable way. The partnership will also guarantee increased promotion and marketing of the game in key markets across the globe.” 

     

    The decision was made by the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board, ICC’s commercial arm, during a meeting at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Sunday. The decision followed a robust tender, bidding and evaluation process, which started in July 2014. The process, which involved two rounds of bidding, received 17 competitive bids from various broadcasters across different territories for the rights.

     

    ICC chief executive David Richardson said, “This agreement guarantees more money for all our members, thereby underpinning the growth and development of the game. Star has been an excellent partner for the ICC during the current rights cycle, promoting and supporting ICC Events and cricket in general in the sub-continent, and I am pleased that we now have a chance to build on that success over the next eight years on a global level.”

     

  • Inaugural ICC Women’s Championship to commence in August

    Inaugural ICC Women’s Championship to commence in August

    MUMBAI: The inaugural edition of the ICC Women’s Championship kicks off in August and will see the top eight sides in the game lock horns in a multi-year, bilateral qualifying competition that will lead into the pinnacle event in women’s cricket, the ICC Women’s World Cup.

    Developed in order to create a more extensive and meaningful bilateral playing programme for women’s cricket, the ICC Women’s Championship will see the eight sides play each other in three One-Day Internationals, either at home or away, between 2014 and 2016. 

    Points will be awarded for each game, with the top four sides at the conclusion of the ICC Women’s Championship gaining automatic qualification to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, to be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board. 

    The bottom four sides will have a second chance to qualify for the marquee event through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017, details of which will be announced in due course.  Joined by six regional qualifiers, the bottom four will face off for the final four positions at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.

    The first round of the ICC Women’s Championship will see reigning world champion Australia begin its title defence against Pakistan on home soil, while three-time ICC Women’s World Cup champion England will host India, Sri Lanka will host South Africa and the West Indies will host New Zealand. The dates and venues for the first round fixtures will be announced shortly.

    ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “The ICC Women’s Championship provides another fantastic opportunity for women’s cricket.  Following the ICC Board’s decision to hold a stand-alone ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament every four years, alternately with the ongoing joint men’s and women’s ICC World Twenty20, this tournament guarantees both regular playing opportunities and a meritocratic pathway to the ICC Women’s World Cup.”

    Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee, Clare Connor, said: “The ICC Women’s Championship is an exciting new initiative that represents a significant step in the continued development of women’s cricket. The multi-year structure provides regular playing opportunities for the leading women’s teams, as well as clear context around bi-lateral series that provides a competitive pathway into the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.”

    The seven rounds of the ICC WC will be played during windows as follows:

    The competing teams will announce fixture details closer to the relevant dates.

    Notes to Editors:

    The ICC Women’s Championship 2014-16 structure

    The ICC Women’s Championship 2014-16 is a multi-year event, with seven windows for each round of competition.  The competing teams will be responsible for determining the dates of their series within each window.

    The competition was agreed by the ICC Board at its January 2014 meeting.   

    ICC Women’s ODI Team Rankings

    The eight participating teams are ranked as per their finishing positions at the ICC Women’s World Cup India 2013, and are as follows:

    1.      Australia

    2.      West Indies

    3.      England

    4.      New Zealand

    5.      Sri Lanka

    6.      South Africa

    7.      India

    8.      Pakistan

  • ICC Board meet concludes in Melbourne

    ICC Board meet concludes in Melbourne

    MUMBAI: The ICC and IDI Boards, under the newly appointed chairmanship of  Narayanaswami Srinivasan, met yesterday during the ICC Annual Conference week in Melbourne. A number of decisions were made and various reports were presented.

    The ICC Board noted the significant progress made on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) which has been extended through to 2023. They have expressed satisfaction that is certainty around long-term scheduling with balance between home and away matches for all 10 teams and the three formats. The ICC Board agreed with the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) recommendation that the Members must sign all bilateral agreements through to 2023 before the next ICC meeting, which will take place in October.

    The ICC Board approved the composition of various sub-committees. David Cameron of West Indies and Najam Sethi of Pakistan have been elected to the five member ICC executive committee , which will be chaired by Wally Edwards and will also include Srinivasan and Giles Clarke, with ICC chief executive David Richardson as an ex-officio member.

     

    Clarke will also chair the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA), which will include Edwards, Srinivasan, Nazmul Hassan of Bangladesh and Jayantha Dharmadasa of Sri Lanka with Richardson again as an ex-officio member.
     

    On the other hand, the Governance Review Committee will be chaired by Martin Snedden and will include Peter Chingoka of Zimbabwe,  Hassan of Bangladesh, Sanjay Patel of India and Imran Khawaja of Singapore with Srinivasan and Richardson as ex-officio members.

    The ICC Development Committee has also been reconstituted to emphasise the importance of developing the game beyond its traditional boundaries.
    The committee will be chaired by the ICC chairman and include the three associate member representatives of the ICC Board, the three associate member representatives on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and the Affiliate Members’ Global Representative. It will also include the Full Member Directors like Chingoka of Zimbabwe, Cameron of West Indies and Snedden of New Zealand as well as Richardson and ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson, both ex-officio members.

    The ICC Board agreed to give T20I status to the Netherlands and Nepal, both of which qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014. This means there are now eight associate sides with T20I status. The other six are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which already have T20I status by virtue of having ODI status.

    The ICC Board also  noted with  concern about the number of bowlers with suspected illegal bowling actions currently playing cricket and noted the recommendations of the ICC Cricket Committee and the CEC to revise processes to encourage umpires and referees to identify suspect bowlers with greater confidence, to use the expertise of the bio-mechanics working in this area to assume a greater role during the assessment process, and to allow for ongoing scrutiny of bowlers once they have been identified under the ICC procedures. The ICC Board will receive a further update at its next meeting.

    It also concurred with the view that international venues must be set up to their maximum possible boundary dimensions, as per the playing conditions, to help maintain an appropriate balance between bat and the ball.

    The ICC Board noted a number of other changes approved by the CEC, which met on Tuesday. The major changes to the ICC playing conditions for international cricket will come into effect from 1 October 2014.

    The ICC Board received the annual anti-corruption report from Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the anti-corruption and security unit chairman, who repeated the need for the ICC to maintain its vigilance in the area of anti-corruption and also sustain the current high levels of education and strategy of prevention.

    The ICC Board discussed and agreed on the terms of reference for a review of cricket’s anti-corruption processes and resources at both international and domestic level. The review group, which is aimed at improving the structures and resources, will be chaired by ICC chief executive David Richardson and will also include ECB chief executive David Collier, BCCI representative Sundar Raman, James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia Chief Executive, and an independent expert.

    The ICC Board also received an update on the encouraging progress in preparation and ticket sales for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February. New Zealand and Sri Lanka will feature in the opening match in Christchurch, while on the same day Australia will host England in Melbourne, which will also stage the final on 29 March.

    On Thursday, the ICC Board had confirmed that the USA Cricket Association (USACA) was the ICC’s recognised member in the USA and approved the Development Committee’s recommendation that Oman Cricket (OC) should become the 38th Associate Member of the ICC. It also confirmed the suspension of the Affiliate Membership of Brunei and removal of Tonga as an Affiliate Member.

  • N Srinivasan confirmed as ICC chairman

    N Srinivasan confirmed as ICC chairman

    MUMBAI: Narayanaswami Srinivasan has been confirmed as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman after the 52-member full council approved amendments to the ICC’s Memorandum and Articles of Association at the annual conference in Melbourne.

    Srinivasan was nominated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the top position and will assume charge following the conclusion of the ICC annual conference week.

    The approval of the constitutional changes, which flowed from an ICC Board resolution taken in Singapore on 8 February and finalised on 10 April, also means that a new executive committee was formed, which will report to the ICC Board.

    The initial chair of the executive committee will be Cricket Australia’s chairman, Wally Edwards, while the chair of the ICC’s finance and commercial affairs committee (F&CA) will continue to be England and Wales Cricket Board’s chairman, Giles Clarke.

    Srinivasan said it was an honour to become ICC chairman and promised that the ICC will continue to play a leading role in the promotion and development of the global game.

    “It is an honour to be confirmed as the chairman of the International Cricket Council,” said Srinivasan, adding: “I will leave no stone unturned in trying to strengthen the pillars and foundations of our sport, both on and off the field. I want to ensure that cricket retains and grows its popularity, and that the ICC plays a leading role in this global growth.”

    “I want to see more strong teams in international cricket. For this to be achieved, we all need to work hard to develop local talent in our countries. Naturally, there will be more support to those who first show they can help themselves. The ICC is a members’ organisation and the pathway is now there for any member to play test cricket or in the major ICC events if it performs well enough over a sustained period of time.”

    Srinivasan congratulated outgoing ICC president Alan Isaac for his contribution.” Isaac has been an inspirational president of the ICC. He provided guidance to everyone during his two-year term and all three international formats remain incredibly popular. The game is unquestionably stronger than it was at the start of his term,” he said.

    The annual conference also saw Mustafa Kamal become the eleventh president of the ICC.

    Kamal said: “This is a memorable and historic day for Bangladesh cricket. On this day 14 years ago, Bangladesh became the tenth test playing country. Today, a Bangladeshi becomes the eleventh president of the International Cricket Council. Thank you for bestowing this honour on Bangladesh and me.”

  • India back as No1 ranked T20I side

    India back as No1 ranked T20I side

    MUMBAI: India has become the number-one ranked Twenty20 International (T20I) side after the annual update of the Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings, which was announced on 1 May.

     

    India has swapped places with ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 champion Sri Lanka.

     

    In the past 12 months, India has lost just one T20I (against Sri Lanka in the recent ICC WT20 Final in Bangladesh), while Sri Lanka has lost four matches. The 2013-2014 results are weighted at 100 per cent whereas, the results in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are now weighted at 50 per cent. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s strong performances in those two earlier years now count for less. 

     

     In the other major change, the West Indies has slipped two places. This drop has moved Australia and New Zealand up by one place each.

     

     The updated table now reflects all T20I matches completed after 1 August 2011. All T20I matches played until the start of May 2015 will be added to this table, so that by May 2015, the ratings will be based on just under four years of results.

     

    In all 14 countries have played sufficient T20I matches to be ranked on the table.  Three countries are unranked, as they haven’t played the minimum number of eight matches during the rankings period, but do have a rating.

     

    Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings (as of 1 May, after annual update)

    Rank   (+/-) Team              Rating (+/-)

    1          (+1) India                  131   (+1)

    2          (-1)  Sri Lanka           130  (-3)

    3          (-)   Pakistan             123   (+3)

    4          (-)   South Africa      121   (+3)

    5          (+1) Australia            112   (+2)

    6          (+1) New Zealand    110   (+3)

    7          (-2) West Indies       110    (-4)

    8            (-)  England               97     (-4)

    9            (-)  Ireland                 87     (+2)

    10           (-) Bangladesh          72     (+1)

    11        (+1) Netherlands        68    (+6)

    12        (-1) Afghanistan         62     (-4)

    13            (-)   Zimbabwe         52     (+2)

    14             (-)   Scotland            51     (+1)

     

    Not ranked as fewer than eight T20I matches played since August 2011

    Nepal   63

    Hong Kong 30

    UAE     0

     (Developed by David Kendix)

  • IND-PAK may face-off in 6 test series between 2015 and 2023

    IND-PAK may face-off in 6 test series between 2015 and 2023

    MUMBAI: If there is one face-off in the sport of cricket that is more anticipated and watched than the Ashes, it has to be India taking on arch rivals Pakistan.

     

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed interest in rekindling its relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play at least six home and away test series between the boards in the next eight-year FTP cycle between 2015 and 2023, which will also include an “off-shore” home series in the United Arab Emirates. 

     

    According to a few media reports, the PCB awaits a final confirmation from the BCCI following its working committee meeting that is expected to take place in the next 15 days. It will then enable the PCB to work out a long-term broadcasting deal with regular India series at its centre. 

     

    Earlier PCB chairman Najam Sethi had made it clear that Pakistan’s conditional support for the ICC revamp depends on the promise of said number of series against India. The change in the PCB’s stance has taken place on the condition that Pakistan would be involved in bilateral series against all Full Members, including India. 

     

    It is learnt that all the nine member boards have confirmed their earlier commitments with PCB until 2020 and are chalking out a fresh plan for the period from 2020 to 2023. 

     

    The BCCI could look to slot in as many as six series against Pakistan, due to the gaps that are available in the existing FTP calendar. The first of these bilateral series could take place in the UAE in the winter of 2015.

     

    India and Pakistan have not played a full series since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan visited India for a short limited-over series in December 2012 which included three ODIs and two T20 Internationals. The PCB estimates that after committing to the ICC revamp, the financial benefits could reach PKR 30 billion from the bilateral ties, the major chunk of which will be earned from hosting India.

  • ICC honchos meeting culminates in Dubai

    ICC honchos meeting culminates in Dubai

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council met on Wednesday at the ICC headquarters in Dubai for the second of its scheduled quarterly meetings of 2014. The Board discussed a range of issues, including reports from the ICC chief executives’, audit, finance and commercial affairs, among other plans.

    The two day meeting that ended today resulted in some very important announcements regarding the schedule for 2014 as well as the coming years.

    Meritocratic pathway for Test cricket

    The ICC Board approved the introduction of an ICC Test Challenge which will take place every four years between the lowest ranked Test team and the winner of the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

    The proposal is that the 10th ranked side on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings on 31 December 2017, or at the conclusion of any series in progress at that time, will play two five-day matches at home and two five-day matches away against the winner of the upcoming ICC Intercontinental Cup, with the inaugural Challenge scheduled to take place during 2018.

    In the next eight years, two ICC Intercontinental Cup tournaments are planned with the first to run from 2015 to 2017 and the second to be held between 2019 and 2021.  The second ICC Test Challenge is scheduled for 2022.

    ICC chief executive David Richardson said: “The ICC Test Challenge now opens the door for Associate Members to play Test cricket and in doing so gives even greater context to the ICC Intercontinental Cup which will now be a pathway to Test cricket.”

    ICC reform of governance and financial models

    Further to the resolutions passed at the ICC Board meeting in Singapore on 8 February 2014, the ICC Board members agreed a long-term work plan to support the implementation of those resolutions which do not require constitutional change.

    At the same time the ICC Board authorised the drawing up of the necessary constitutional amendments which will be placed before the Full Council at the ICC Annual Conference to be held in Melbourne at the end of June.

    One of the cornerstones of the new financial model is an extended Future Tours Programme (FTP) which will now run until 2023.

    Richardson explained: “The FTP is a very important piece of work as it gives Members long-term certainty in relation to both their playing schedule and financial planning. Significant progress has been made but there is still work to be done to develop a balanced calendar of tours and finalise these agreements.”

    ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014

    The ICC Board thanked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for the successful staging of the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 and praised the Bangladesh government, security agencies and the general public for their contributions and support. The ICC Board also congratulated Sri Lanka for winning the men’s title and Australia’s women for completing a hat-trick of titles.

    ICC president Alan Isaac said: “The ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 was an extremely successful event which was thoroughly enjoyed by the players, officials, spectators and media. A lot of credit must be given to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the ICC team for putting up a memorable show.”

    “The event helped Bangladesh enhance its infrastructure in Dhaka and Chittagong and develop a new international venue in Sylhet.  Sri Lanka’s triumph means the event has produced five different men’s champions in as many editions. The encouraging performances of the Associate Members and their successes over the Full Members clearly reflect that the ICC World Twenty20 is the most open tournament on the ICC calendar,” he added.

    Format and qualification process for the ICC World Twenty20 2016

    Following the success of the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014, the ICC Board agreed that the same format be retained for the ICC World Twenty20 events in 2016, which will be staged in India.

    For the 2016 event, the top eight Full Members on the Reliance ICC T20I Team Rankings as on 30 April 2014 will automatically qualify for the second round, while the ninth and 10th ranked Full Members will get automatic places in the first round. The six qualifiers will progress from the 14-team ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, which will be staged in Ireland and Scotland from 9 July to 2 August 2015 during which a total of 51 matches will be played.

    ICC Cricket Committee

    The Board ratified the appointment of Australia coach Darren Lehmann and the West Indies coach Ottis Gibson as the representatives of national coaches on the ICC Cricket Committee following the completion of former India and South Africa coach Gary Kirsten’s term.

    Other updates

    The ICC Board also considered a general update on anti-corruption and integrity while the IDI Board received a report from the Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee which included updates on the commercial rights post-2015, Host and Members’ Participation Agreements for the next commercial rights cycle, online piracy, event forecasts and audited financial statements for 2013.

    The next ICC and IDI Board meetings will take place during the ICC Annual Conference week in Melbourne in June 2014.

  • Arch rivals IND and PAK square off today in first Super 10 stage tie

    Arch rivals IND and PAK square off today in first Super 10 stage tie

    Updated: 7:00 pm 

    MUMBAI: The ICC T-20 World Cup is underway in Bangladesh and is surely doing well to keep cricket fans across the globe hooked to their television sets.

    The tourney is heading into its next phase as the teams narrow down to the Super 10; the home team – Bangladesh – has already progressed to the Super 10 stage after topping Group A in the first round, a group that also included Afghanistan, Nepal and Hong Kong. 

    Bangladesh opened the tournament on 16 March with a nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan and beat Nepal by eight wickets before losing to Hong Kong by two wickets in its last match. With two wins from three matches, Bangladesh finished on four points with Nepal, but still progressed to the Super 10 stage owing to its superior net run rate. 

    With the win it has joined defending ICC World Twenty20 champion West Indies, former champions India and Pakistan and Australia in Group 2 of the Super 10 stage. Group 2 matches will start at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur from today with arch rivals India and Pakistan battling it out. 

    Meanwhile, the winner of Group B will be confirmed after the last first round match between Ireland and the Netherlands in Sylhet today. 

    Netherlands beat Ireland by six wickets to proceed to the Super 10 stage. The Netherlands now joins Sri Lanka, South Africa, England and New Zealand in Group 1 of the Super 10 stage. Group 1 matches will start at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Saturday, 22 March. 

    The Netherlands will play its opening Super 10 stage match against Sri Lanka on Monday, 24 March, while its remaining matches will be against South Africa on Thursday, 27 March, New Zealand on Saturday, 29 March and England on Monday, 31 March.

    All eyes will be glued to the screens as India and Pakistan kick off the first tie of the Super 10 stage matches.

  • Starsports.com targets 10 mn unique visitors during ICC T-20 World Cup

    Starsports.com targets 10 mn unique visitors during ICC T-20 World Cup

    MUMBAI: To say cricket is a religion in India could be an understatement. Cricket fanatics who are unable to watch live action on television find help in mobile phones and sports websites to get near live updates. These cricket devotees now have a whole new comprehensive experience on offer in Starsports.com.

    Ever since its launch in June 2013, starsports.com has drawn nearly 28 million unique visitors for all its sports properties and the average time spent is 45 minutes per match. Starsports.com claims these numbers – comparable to television – are the highest ever on a digital platform.

    “During the recently concluded Asia Cup, we witnessed 4.5 million unique visitors, and with over 10 million video views, the numbers are really humbling,” says Star India digital head Ajit Mohan. “The average time spent on video content was 32 minutes. Thus, Asia Cup was an affirmation that if someone is willing to create a great video experience there is a great appetite for it out there.”

    Heading into the ICC T-20 World Cup, Starsports.com is going through a fairly major revamp. “It all began in June 2013 with Starsports.com and our major pull was the proposition of watching live matches on the go or on desktops for a subscription price with a great video player having timelines and data integrations with the option of tracking data without leaving the live video,” adds Mohan.

    Now the portal is expanding the proposition with the insight that when sports fans are not in front of their TV sets there is a huge interest in following the matches. And of course the interest is higher when India is playing.

    “So far, most companies for sports on the web will give the option of text commentary, or give ball by ball commentary. Over the last six months with the onset of Starsports.com with live video available on subscription and text commentary, we have changed the way sports is perceived on the web,” explains Mohan.

    Starsports.com believes that there is a whole new space in between which can be shaped by it and create an experience that is way better than text commentary.

    The three major changes that will be experienced on the revamped site, as Mohan puts it, will be Zip Clips, Graphical Representations and streaming of live action with a 5-minute delay.

    Zip Clips: Starsports.com is creating a new match centre, where sports fans will be able to enjoy the live match through a series of clips. Almost ball by ball we will have ‘Zip Clips’ to catch up with the game or follow the game. So one doesn’t really have to sit and read the scores but gets to experience it with a series of short clips. And the clips will be almost in real time.

    Graphical Representations: The other thing added to the mix is a lot more graphical representation during the match and provide nuggets and insights. There will be experimentation with capturing in graphics where the match stands at that point in time.

    5-minute delayed live stream: And the third and most promising proposition for sports fans is streaming of the live action with a five-minute delay. This should encourage increased video consumption also in homes that do not have more than one TV screen.

    Cricket fans pressed for time and also those having low bandwidth can watch ‘zip clips’ to catch up with the near live action or when in leisure, cricket fans can watch the match with a five minute delay. For those wanting to watch live streaming, there’s a small charge to be paid.

    Starsports.com carried out loads of tests for nearly four months on how to make the best use of the zip clips feature and created the work flow from both the content and the technology point of views. Taking into consideration the fact that there are bandwidth constraints across the nation, Starsports.com strives to provide the best in video content at great quality.

    “Essentially, we are shaping a new service for fundamentally addressing the need for following a match. When the sports fan is not in front of the television, and therefore, to create a full video experience that is beyond what they are used to in terms of text commentary but also addresses the issue of time and convenience,” expounds Mohan. “It’s still a world where people are concerned about data charges and bandwidth and we are saying let us help you solve the concern by reducing the duration of the clips.”

    The prices for the tournaments and matches are quite reasonable given that they will get to watch it in high definition. ICC T20 World Cup 2014 Pass: Rs 100; The FA Cup 2013: Rs 100; Premier League Season Pass: Rs 500; Formula 1 – 2014 Season Pass: Rs 500; La Liga Season Pass: Rs 500; Football Season Pass: Rs 800; All Sports Day Pass (floating): Rs 20; Match Week Pass (floating): Rs 30 (which starts from Friday).

    The zip clips will be supported by ads but they would only feature on the clips of particularly longer duration, and it has a great value proposition for advertisers. “I believe advertisers increasingly value ads when the fans are really engaged in a full video experience. So our aim is to let them target engaged sports fans, so there is no point in cluttering the clips with ads. But there will be ads against these clips and for the delayed five minute stream, only the live stream will be ad free,” expounds Mohan.

    Thus with these three offerings Starsports.com is trying to keep sports fans pleased with the proposal of watching shorter clips to play catch-up with the live action or to watch the five minute delayed stream at leisure or if you are really keen to watch M S Dhoni smack the ball out of the park live just shell out a few extra bucks.

    “We have always had a tournament pass, season passes on soccer and our objective has always been to keep the prices reasonable and we believe in delivering quality content at that price,” beams Mohan.

    Speaking on Starsports.com’s association with Vodafone, Mohan adds, “They are a very valued partner for us, I think as a telco looking to shape data and video consumption, they are acutely aware of the power of sports, so we are powering Vodafone Sports with our curated content and all of what we are doing here will help us shape that service as well.”

    Social media acts as a catalyst for driving viewers from all over the web to the content on offer. These clips will be made available for easy sharing, “But I guess primarily people want to watch the matches and the shorter clips and for us to deliver a great video experience, we don’t want to clutter our social media with the buzz word like most providers do,” explains Mohan.

    Looking at the kind of brands that the portal has on board and already in talks with some of the leading brands for the ongoing T-20 World Cup, industry sources estimate that starsports.com generated ad revenue of around Rs 7-8 crore during the recently concluded Asia Cup and would generate around Rs 15-16 crore from the ongoing ICC T-20 World Cup.

    “We have received a great response from the advertisers and a lot of brands are looking for a great video experience on the web. It’s no longer about banner ads and they are keen to grab the attention of engaged sports fans,” says Mohan.

    Starsports.com is gung-ho about touching the 10 million unique visitors mark during the ICC T-20 World Cup tourney. “Our target has always been to hit the 50 million unique visitors mark between the major tournaments namely the recently concluded Asia Cup, the ongoing T-20 World Cup and the upcoming big-ticket tourney the Indian Premiere League,” says Mohan.

    There are three major things that one looks at when delivering the best experience through a sports service – one is having great storytellers, great infrastructure and the video player.

    Expanding on these three aspects, Mohan says: “We have a dedicated sports team working on the digital front, focusing on how to communicate stories on the web. We have learnt a lot over the past year to deliver the best in sports experience on the web and finally our video player is something that we are proud of after investing so much on building one of the best players in the market currently that can support great graphic content as well.”

    Starports.com is clearly living up to its claim of being the YouTube of sports in India and is focused on building a strong backbone for video content delivery and continuing to invest in improving the experience even further.

    “For us, the response we receive from the ICC T-20 WC and the IPL will be a good trial of (whether) we are able to both communicate and bring in a sports fan,” says Mohan.

    “Sports fans have been used to something else and it’s not easy to bring a change in habits as most people have been following a text scorecard over the years and our challenge is to tell them that there is a better way to consume sports,” concludes Mohan.