MUMBAI: Prime Video is serving a non-stop season of boundaries and bouncers. The streamer has announced it will bring every ball of New Zealand’s 2025-26 home season live to India, giving fans front-row seats to a packed calendar of Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
Starting 1st October with a fiery three-match T20I showdown against Australia, the Black Caps’ home summer promises wall-to-wall drama. England follows with six white-ball games through October, before the West Indies arrive for a full tour of five T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests across November and December. South Africa then rounds things off in March 2026 with a high-octane five-match T20I series, while the White Ferns take on Zimbabwe Women for the very first time, alongside fixtures with South Africa.
Across nine iconic venues, the season will feature cricket’s biggest names, from Rachin Ravindra, Pat Cummins and Travis Head to Sophie Devine, Laura Wolvaardt and Sikandar Raza.
For Indian fans, it means free access to a feast of cricketing rivalries and historic firsts, streamed directly on Prime Video. With the entire season running till March 2026, one thing is clear, New Zealand’s summer just became India’s too.
Mumbai: Sony Sports Network will telecast two bilateral series with India tour of Ireland and India tour of England in succession, starting 26 June.
Team India returns to the shores of Ireland for two T20i matches after their last series there in 2018. This will be followed by the much-anticipated series starting with the fifth test against their arch-rivals England followed by three T20Is, and three ODIs starting 1st July 2022. Both the series will be aired live on Sony Six (English), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi), and Sony Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels, as well as live-streamed on its on-demand OTT platform Sonyliv.
Both the series will mark a new era for the Indian cricket team with Rohit Sharma captaining for the very first time overseas and Hardik Pandya leading the T20i side in Ireland. England also has a new captain in Ben Stokes who is currently leading his side in the series against New Zealand. Both the new captains will meet in July to close the test chapter that started last year under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and Joe Root, with the series score line currently at 2-1 in India’s favour. Much to play for, the Indian side is looking at a historic test series win in England, while Ben Stokes and his men need a win to draw the series 2-2.
Sony Sports Network has also announced a list of eminent names who will be a part of their commentary panel and will also feature on their live studio show Extraaa Innings across the two series. The English and Hindi commentary panel will feature David Gower, Graeme Swann, Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Mohammad Kaif, Ajay Jadeja, Sanjay Manjrekar, Saba Karim, Vivek Razdan along with Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton joining directly from the grounds in England. The Tamil commentary box will feature WV Raman, Vidhyut Sivaramakrishnan, TR Arasu, and R Sridhar, while the Telugu commentary will be presented by Venkatapathy Raju, Gnaneshwar Rao, C Venkatesh, Vijay Mahavadi and Sandeep Kumar. The list of presenters across the two series includes Harsha Bhogle, Sanjana Ganesan, Matt Floyd, and Arjun Pandit.
Additionally, the network will bring back its School of Cricket segment for young cricket enthusiasts across the nation. Ace presenter and writer, Anubhav Jain will be seen hosting the show with cricket experts.
Sony Pictures Networks India chief revenue officer, distribution and head – sports business Rajesh Kaul said, “We are delighted to have India cricket back on Sony Sports Network with two back-to-back bilateral series. Viewers are excited to watch the much-anticipated fifth test against England which has been a mainstay of all the cricket conversations in the past year, and fans across the nation have been looking forward to this closure. As we get a conclusion for the 2021 series, we are excited to start the next chapter with three T20Is and three ODIs. And to further provide audiences with a seamless and holistic viewing experience, we present our live studio show, Extraaa Innings that features a star-studded panel and both the series will be live telecast in four languages”
India’s tour of Ireland and England is a part of Sony Sports Network’s ‘Non-stop Cricket’ campaign. The campaign that highlighted 1,800+ hours of international cricket action available on Sony Sports Network, features the unique duo of India Women’s Cricket Team opening batter Smriti Mandhana along with actor Pankaj Tripathi. After the first campaign film successfully broke the clutter in sports advertising, the network recently launched the second film for the upcoming India tour of England. The film shot at a Dhobi Ghat metaphorically implies the impending ‘Dhulai’ of the England cricket team on their turf by Team India.
Mumbai: The opening match between India and New Zealand, in the T20 international series that began on 17 November, garnered a reach of 73 million (2+U+R) becoming the most-watched T20 opening match in the last three years.
The match is part of New Zealand’s tour of India that is being broadcast on the Star Sports network. As part of the series, India will play three T20 internationals and two Test matches against New Zealand.
According to data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India, the match garnered 15 per cent higher absolute reach than the previous high set by the opening match of India versus West Indies T20 international held in 2019.
The India vs New Zealand opening match reach, in percentage, stood at 13.1 per cent which was 11 per cent higher compared to the previous high of the Ind v WI opening match. The match also garnered a 4.9 million average minute audience (AMA) which was 16 per cent higher compared to the Ind v WI opening match.
In comparison, the opening match of India vs England T20 international this year garnered a reach of 50 million, 3.4 million AMA, and a share of reach at 10.5 per cent.
MUMBAI: Star India is all set for the Asia Cup, which kick-starts on 24 February and has roped in as many as 13 sponsors for the same.
The 50-over cricket format in today fast paced age is fading into oblivion with T-20 gaining prominence as a preferred format. The Asia Cup cricket tournament, which was rolled out by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 1983 as a goodwill between Asian countries, will have its 16th edition in Bangladesh. The tournament faced its own set of challenges time and again as it fell prey to the political inconsistencies between India and Pakistan.
After the ACC was downsized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in April 2015, it was announced that the upcoming Asia Cup events will be played on rotation basis in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) format based on respective next world events under the ICC. What this means is that the 2016 and 2020 events will be played using the T20I format, ahead of the 2016 and 2020 World Twenty20s, and the 2018 and 2022 events will be played in the ODI format, ahead of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups respectively. It is for the first time Asia Cup will played in the T-20 format. The announcement may be a heart-breaking one for traditional cricket lovers but it’s certainly comes as icing on the cake for the official broadcaster – Star India.
“T-20 format is the only one, which is garnering full houses everywhere. This change in format gives the tournament a new dimension,” said a senior sports media planning expert.
Star India acquired the broadcasting rights of the tournament till 2023, and for the first edition it has roped in as many as 13 sponsors in Micromax, Magicbricks.com, Vimal Pan Masala, Shopclues.com, CEAT Tyres, Gillete March III, Britannia, Gaana.com, Idea, Raymond, Bharti Axa life insurance, Royal Stag and Karbonn Power Bank.
“The ad rates for a the matches will be close to Rs 4 lakh while the India VS Pakistan matches will command a higher price. Indo-Pak final can be a great boom for Star India as they can monetise it at a premium price,” asserts the expert.
According to sources, Star India acquired the telecast rights for approximately $40 million for four seasons till 2023. An executive from a rival channel said, “We chose not to bid for it and as per my knowledge there was no bidder to place a bid in order to acquire the rights. But then after a mutual discussion between Star India and the association, they came to a consensus. The minimum slab was $13 million per season, which we thought was too high.”
Micromax has come in as the on-ground title sponsor, while Britannia is the ‘powered by’ sponsor. “The title sponsor position was sold for Rs 8 crore, while Britannia dished out Rs 6 crore for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship. The tournament will see packed houses becoming a reality and hence it will be a good return on investment for brands that have come on board,” said the media planning expert.
The tourney will kick-start on 24 February and five teams will battle it out for Asian supremacy in Bangladesh. It now remains to be seen if the change in format rejuvenates the tournament.
MUMBAI: Star India is all set for the Asia Cup, which kick-starts on 24 February and has roped in as many as 13 sponsors for the same.
The 50-over cricket format in today fast paced age is fading into oblivion with T-20 gaining prominence as a preferred format. The Asia Cup cricket tournament, which was rolled out by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 1983 as a goodwill between Asian countries, will have its 16th edition in Bangladesh. The tournament faced its own set of challenges time and again as it fell prey to the political inconsistencies between India and Pakistan.
After the ACC was downsized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in April 2015, it was announced that the upcoming Asia Cup events will be played on rotation basis in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) format based on respective next world events under the ICC. What this means is that the 2016 and 2020 events will be played using the T20I format, ahead of the 2016 and 2020 World Twenty20s, and the 2018 and 2022 events will be played in the ODI format, ahead of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups respectively. It is for the first time Asia Cup will played in the T-20 format. The announcement may be a heart-breaking one for traditional cricket lovers but it’s certainly comes as icing on the cake for the official broadcaster – Star India.
“T-20 format is the only one, which is garnering full houses everywhere. This change in format gives the tournament a new dimension,” said a senior sports media planning expert.
Star India acquired the broadcasting rights of the tournament till 2023, and for the first edition it has roped in as many as 13 sponsors in Micromax, Magicbricks.com, Vimal Pan Masala, Shopclues.com, CEAT Tyres, Gillete March III, Britannia, Gaana.com, Idea, Raymond, Bharti Axa life insurance, Royal Stag and Karbonn Power Bank.
“The ad rates for a the matches will be close to Rs 4 lakh while the India VS Pakistan matches will command a higher price. Indo-Pak final can be a great boom for Star India as they can monetise it at a premium price,” asserts the expert.
According to sources, Star India acquired the telecast rights for approximately $40 million for four seasons till 2023. An executive from a rival channel said, “We chose not to bid for it and as per my knowledge there was no bidder to place a bid in order to acquire the rights. But then after a mutual discussion between Star India and the association, they came to a consensus. The minimum slab was $13 million per season, which we thought was too high.”
Micromax has come in as the on-ground title sponsor, while Britannia is the ‘powered by’ sponsor. “The title sponsor position was sold for Rs 8 crore, while Britannia dished out Rs 6 crore for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship. The tournament will see packed houses becoming a reality and hence it will be a good return on investment for brands that have come on board,” said the media planning expert.
The tourney will kick-start on 24 February and five teams will battle it out for Asian supremacy in Bangladesh. It now remains to be seen if the change in format rejuvenates the tournament.
