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Tag: India vs England

  • Test cricket’s digital triumph defies the doomsayers

    Test cricket’s digital triumph defies the doomsayers

    MUMBAI: Test cricket may be fighting for its future, but the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has delivered a resounding riposte to the sceptics. More than 170 million viewers logged onto JioHotstar during the five-match series between India and England—the highest-ever reach for a Test series on digital platforms.

    The numbers tell a compelling story. A staggering 65 billion minutes of watch time were clocked up as the series unfolded from 20 June  to 4 August. The climactic fifth day at The Oval alone drew a peak of 13 million concurrent viewers, setting a new record for online Test match streaming.

    All five matches went the distance, with nail-biting finishes and dramatic plot twists keeping audiences glued to their screens. Even when rain curtailed play on the Sunday at The Oval, with England needing just 35 runs and India four wickets, thousands returned on Monday morning for what many knew might be only an hour’s play.

    “The extraordinary response reinforced Test cricket’s ability to forge compelling narratives in almost every session,” said JioStar head of content for sports Siddharth Sharma. The platform served coverage in five languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

    Yet this triumph highlights cricket’s central paradox. Whilst series between the sport’s “Big Three”—England, India and Australia—continue to thrive, concerns persist about Test cricket’s inclusivity for lower-ranked nations. The format’s commercial success remains concentrated among a privileged few.

    These worries have prompted the ICC to form an eight-member working group, led by chief executive Sanjog Gupta, to assess a proposed two-tier World Test Championship. England’s cricket board opposes the plan, fearing relegation could cost them lucrative clashes with Australia or India.

    The series marked India’s opening gambit in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, ending in a 2-2 draw after the final session. Fans also devoured Follow the Blues, a behind-the-scenes series, and When India Challenged the Crown, which revisited India’s Test legacy in England.

    JioStar now turns its attention to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, beginning 30 September.

  • Star Sports’ ‘SKYball’ campaign soars ahead of India-England T20I series

    Star Sports’ ‘SKYball’ campaign soars ahead of India-England T20I series

    MUMBAI: Ready for cricket balls orbiting the moon?

    Get your beers ready, because cricket’s biggest showstoppers—India and England—are set to light up your screens with a five-match T20I series starting 22 January. With Suryakumar Yadav leading the Blues and England bringing their explosive Bazball approach, this series is not just a clash of cricketing heavyweights—it’s a fireworks display in the making.

    What’s more? Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar have launched the quirky and entertaining ‘SKYball’ campaign, and trust us, it’s out of this world—literally. But before we spill all the details, ask yourself: Can the moon survive SKY and Bazball’s six-hitting spree?

    The campaign film, featuring India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav, takes cricket fandom to a whole new level—space. Set in a mission control room, it hilariously shows cricket balls zooming toward the moon like mini rockets. Suryakumar, aka SKY, even apologises to the celestial body before delivering his punchline: “Moon, see you soon!”

    Suryakumar Yadav

    If that’s not enough, the film cheekily teases England’s big hitters joining the action, as sirens blare and cricket balls whiz past the control station. The message? This series isn’t about boundaries—it’s about breaking them.

    Speaking about the campaign, SKY said, “Every time we take the field, we are always looking to push the boundaries that help aim consistently for the moonshot. This rivalry has been among the most iconic and competitive ones for decades now, and even more so for the fans who are looking forward to witnessing some exciting cricket in our backyard.”

    Adding to the hype, JioStar head of marketing – sports, Vikram Passi noted, “The campaign is a tribute to how the Blues, under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, have taken power-hitting to a new high. Add the English power-hitters into the mix, and a sumptuous buffet of sixes is about to be served.”

    With England’s much-hyped Bazball tactics facing India’s SKYball, fans can expect a high-octane contest where cricket balls will spend more time in the air than on the ground.

    The stakes are sky-high. This five-match T20I series at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens kicks off India’s first home series of 2025 and serves as a crucial warm-up for the ICC Champions Trophy in February. With India ranked number one and England at number three, the battle promises to deliver top-tier cricketing drama.

    Clear your evenings; you won’t want to miss a single six.

    As cricket fans count down to 22 January, the question remains: Who will win the battle of the big hitters? Will SKY’s fireworks outshine England’s Bazball pyrotechnics? One thing’s for sure—this series will be unmissable.

    Catch all the action live on Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.

    Series schedule: Mark your calendars

    Match

    Date

    Day

    Time

    1st T20I

    22.01.25

    Wednesday

    7:00 PM

    2nd T20I

    25.01.25

    Saturday

    7:00 PM

    3rd T20I

    28.01.25

    Tuesday

    7:00 PM

    4th T20I

    31.01.25

    Friday

    7:00 PM

    5th T20I

    02.02.25

    Sunday

    7:00 PM

     

  • Sony Sports to broadcast Architects in White starting 16 June

    Sony Sports to broadcast Architects in White starting 16 June

    Mumbai: Sony Sports Network will air the four-part docuseries Architects in White – India Cricket in England from 16 to 19 June in four languages on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 4. The series will also be available on its streaming service Sonyliv.

    The docuseries showcases a riveting story about the long-standing Test cricket rivalry between India and England.

    The series features some of the greatest cricketing voices like Sunil Gavaskar, David Gower, Nick Knight, Chetan Sharma, Kiran More and Maninder Singh among others, capturing Team India’s finest sporting achievements in England. The docuseries also features insights from notable sports journalists from both India and England, like Lawrence Booth (Editor, Wisden), Scyld Berry (Former Editor, Wisden), Sharda Ugra, Ayaz Memon amongst others.

    “After successfully bringing the story of India’s greatest Test win over Australia, we take immense pride in showcasing the stories behind India’s greatest Test wins on English soil,” said Sony Pictures Networks India chief revenue officer distribution and head sports business Rajesh Kaul. “Architects in White celebrates the legends who drew the blueprints for India’s 9 Test wins in 9 decades in England. The four-episode feature series celebrating the heroes that made it happen will also be telecast in four languages so we can serve more cricket fans across India.”

  • Disney+ Hotstar to livestream warm-up matches for T20 World Cup 2021

    Disney+ Hotstar to livestream warm-up matches for T20 World Cup 2021

    Mumbai: Disney+ Hotstar will exclusively livestream the warm-up matches of the top eight teams at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 that is slated to begin on 17 October. The warm-up fixtures amongst the top eight teams will be played between 18 and 20 October.

    India’s first warm-up game against England and Australia will be played on 18 October starting at 7:30 p.m IST and will be followed by its warm-up game against Australia on 20 October starting at 3:30 p.m IST. The matches will be available for viewing on Disney+ Hotstar as well as the Star Sports Network, said the statement.

    “ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is the pinnacle of international T20 cricket and in an industry first we will exclusively stream all the warm-up matches of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on our platform,” said Disney+ Hotstar India president and head Sunil Rayan. “In line with our strategy, Disney+ Hotstar continues to strengthen itself as the preferred digital destination for all the sporting action, constantly offering newer engagement opportunities to fulfill the growing appetite of the sports fanatics in India.”

    Post the warm-up matches, India will begin their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against Pakistan in Dubai in a Super12 Group 2 stage clash on 24 October. 

  • India-Eng test catalyses Star Sports’ top viewership

    India-Eng test catalyses Star Sports’ top viewership

    MUMBAI: Star Sports Network continued its domination over Broadcast Audience Research Council (India) ratings in the penultimate week of the year. The 51-week data for the sports genre placed Star Sports 3 on the top spot in the channels’ ratings, to be followed by Star Sports 1. It is clear that these numbers have been obtained by the recently-concluded India-England test series, which saw the home team winning 4-0 after Karun Nair and R Jadeja’s exploits in the final test.

    Star Sports 3 was beaming the India-England fifth test live in Hindi, and got a total of 190571 impressions. Collated on an all India basis with 4+ audiences, the ratings proved that Test cricket, when exciting, will ensure good viewership. The second spot was owned by Star Sports 1 with 152792 impressions, a channel which broadcast the match with English commentary. In the third and fifth place were Ten network’s Ten 1 and Ten 2 with 9477 and 14031 impressions, respectively. The fourth spot was held by Star Sports 2, which got a total of 45625 impressions.

    The period in consideration is 17 December to 23 December and the last test was played from 16 December at Chennai. It was a mammoth innings from Karnataka batsman Karun Nair, who scored a record-breaking 303. The third day of the test saw Karun scoring the bulk of his runs, with Lokesh Rahul also getting out on a heart-breaking 199. The batting testimony got the highest viewership in terms of programs as the third day got 3013 impressions on Star Sports 3.

    The fourth day of the fifth test stood second, with 2978 impressions. Karun Nair had completed his triple century on this day, breaking several records on the way. The third spot went to the final day of the test with 2478 impressions, which saw Ravinder Jadeja picking up seven wickets to derail England batting and win the test. Both the second and third highest viewership were garnered on Star Sports 3.

    In the fourth spot is WWE Roadblock, featured on Ten 1. The program got 2390 impressions. The fifth and the final spot was sealed by the India-England series, garnering a healthy 2220 impressions on Star Sports 1. Star Sports network have benefited a lot from this highly exciting test series, getting good numbers in the last two tests which India won handsomely.

  • India-Eng test catalyses Star Sports’ top viewership

    India-Eng test catalyses Star Sports’ top viewership

    MUMBAI: Star Sports Network continued its domination over Broadcast Audience Research Council (India) ratings in the penultimate week of the year. The 51-week data for the sports genre placed Star Sports 3 on the top spot in the channels’ ratings, to be followed by Star Sports 1. It is clear that these numbers have been obtained by the recently-concluded India-England test series, which saw the home team winning 4-0 after Karun Nair and R Jadeja’s exploits in the final test.

    Star Sports 3 was beaming the India-England fifth test live in Hindi, and got a total of 190571 impressions. Collated on an all India basis with 4+ audiences, the ratings proved that Test cricket, when exciting, will ensure good viewership. The second spot was owned by Star Sports 1 with 152792 impressions, a channel which broadcast the match with English commentary. In the third and fifth place were Ten network’s Ten 1 and Ten 2 with 9477 and 14031 impressions, respectively. The fourth spot was held by Star Sports 2, which got a total of 45625 impressions.

    The period in consideration is 17 December to 23 December and the last test was played from 16 December at Chennai. It was a mammoth innings from Karnataka batsman Karun Nair, who scored a record-breaking 303. The third day of the test saw Karun scoring the bulk of his runs, with Lokesh Rahul also getting out on a heart-breaking 199. The batting testimony got the highest viewership in terms of programs as the third day got 3013 impressions on Star Sports 3.

    The fourth day of the fifth test stood second, with 2978 impressions. Karun Nair had completed his triple century on this day, breaking several records on the way. The third spot went to the final day of the test with 2478 impressions, which saw Ravinder Jadeja picking up seven wickets to derail England batting and win the test. Both the second and third highest viewership were garnered on Star Sports 3.

    In the fourth spot is WWE Roadblock, featured on Ten 1. The program got 2390 impressions. The fifth and the final spot was sealed by the India-England series, garnering a healthy 2220 impressions on Star Sports 1. Star Sports network have benefited a lot from this highly exciting test series, getting good numbers in the last two tests which India won handsomely.