ITV

Tag: Test series

  • Sony Sports to air India tour of Ireland, England starting 26 June

    Sony Sports to air India tour of Ireland, England starting 26 June

    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.

  • India’s tour of England on Sony Sports sets viewership record

    India’s tour of England on Sony Sports sets viewership record

    Mumbai: Sony Sports has revealed that the final day (17 August) of the second Test match between India and England played at Lords garnered close to eight million impressions. The final session of the match which had team England bundled out for 120 runs achieved an average viewership of 10.7 million impressions, said the channel.

    The average rating for the series to date is almost 30 per cent higher than the 2018 series featuring the same teams. The average ratings grew by almost 70 per cent on the final day of the test.

    “The viewership for ongoing England vs India test match series has been the highest for an away bilateral test match series featuring Indian cricket team in the past three years,” the channel said in a statement. “The ratings for the final day are the highest ever on a pay sports channel for a test match day featuring the Indian team playing away from home. The final session of the match was one of the most-watched test match sessions in recent years,” it added.

    After a draw in the first test match at Trent Bridge due to rain, team India played the England team at Lords. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma gave a strong start followed by an 89-run partnership between Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Mohammed Siraj took home four wickets on the last day securing India’s first victory in the test series.

    “The India tour of England series has always been a high–profile test series and has lived up to both advertiser and viewer expectations. And after India’s thrilling win at Lords, more brands have come on board Sony Sports channels and look forward to reaching out to their target audiences and leverage on the huge buzz the series is generating,” said the channel.

    Sony Sports roped in 12 sponsors including Mahindra & Mahindra, Byju’s, Pan Bahar, PharmEasy, Fogg, WhatsApp, Samsung, MRF, Cars 24, Ultratech, Airtel, and Kent for India’s tour of England.

    (Source: BARC, All India, U+R, CS 2+, Day-wise impressions on pay sports channels)

  • SPSN signs nine sponsors for India Tour of England

    SPSN signs nine sponsors for India Tour of England

    Mumbai: Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) has wooed an impressive line-up of sponsors for India Tour of England Test series, starting on Wednesday.

    Mahindra & Mahindra, BYJU’S, Pan Bahaar, PharmEasy, Ultratech, Fogg, WhatsApp, Cars24 and MRF Tyres have signed up as co-presenting and associate sponsors.

    Additionally, SPSN has roped Kent RO as a presenting sponsor for its studio show ‘Extraaa Innings’. Other advertisers who have come on board are Policybazaar, Dafa News, Paisabzaar, TVS Tyres, Apollo Pharmacy, Castrol, Accenture, Netmeds, Housing.com, Apple, Tata Motors, Wolf 777 news, 1mg.com and Perfetti Van Melle.

    The series is all set to begin on 4 August and all five Test matches will be aired on Sony Six, Sony Ten 3, and Sony Ten 4 channels and on-demand OTT platform, SonyLIV from 2.30 pm onwards. The English and Hindi feeds will air on Sony Six and Sony Ten 3 channels, respectively, while the Tamil and Telugu regional feeds will be broadcast on Sony Ten 4 channels.

    The English broadcast of ‘Extraaa Innings’ will be presented by former players like Sunil Gavaskar, Shaun Pollock, Sanjay Manjrekar, and Harsha Bhogle along with Alastair Cook, Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton (on-ground).

    The Hindi broadcast of the studio show will be presented by former cricketers Ashish Nehra, Virender Sehwag, Ajay Jadeja, Ajit Agarkar, Mohammad Kaif and Vivek Razdan along with Arjun Pandit.

    The Tamil commentary box will feature Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, WV Raman, Vidhyut Sivaramakrishnan, TR Arasu and S Seshadri. Telugu commentary will be presented by Venkatapathy Raju, Gnaneshwar Rao, C Venkatesh, Vijay Mahavadi, RJ Hemanth and Sandeep Kumar.

    Sony Pictures Networks India, chief revenue officer, distribution and head – Sports Business, Rajesh Kaul said, “We have received tremendous response from various advertisers across Housing, finance, education, technology sectors and are confident to attract more sponsors as we progress further into the series.”

    To amplify the series, Sony Pictures Sports Network has also launched the #BackOurBoys campaign across its digital assets.

  • BCCI congratulates Indian Team on Test series win against Sri Lanka

    BCCI congratulates Indian Team on Test series win against Sri Lanka

    MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has congratulated the Indian Cricket Team on winning the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

     

    BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said, “On behalf of everyone in Indian cricket I would like to congratulate the Indian Cricket Team on their 2-1 Test series win in Sri Lanka. The magnitude of this brilliant win can be ascertained by the fact that the series win in Sri Lanka has come after 22 years. The team and management have made their way in the cricketing history books.”

     

    “I also congratulate Mr. Virat Kohli for this victory. Mr. Kohli has been exceptional in his role as captain of the Indian cricket team. He is doing an excellent job in building a new team and leading from the front,” added Dalmiya.

     

    BCCI Honorary secretary Anurag Thakur said, “My hearty congratulations to the Indian Cricket team on the Test series win in Sri Lanka. A special kudos to Mr. Virat Kohli on winning his first series as India’s Test captain and I hope this is the first of many for the captain and his young team. The boys can be very proud of what they have achieved and I am confident they will now strive for doing it on a consistent basis.

     

    “The challenge for us is to create sustained success and to ensure that Team India’s performances keep on improving in the upcoming season. We believe we are putting in place the foundations to move in the right direction. We are committed to doing everything we can to achieve continuous improvement,” Thakur added.

  • Selectors pick squads for Bangladesh and England tours

    Selectors pick squads for Bangladesh and England tours

    MUMBAI: The All-India Senior Selection Committee which met in Mumbai, earlier today has finally picked the two squads for the ODI series to be held in Bangladesh and the test series to be held in England.

     

    Suresh Raina will lead the Indian team during the ODI series to be held in Bangladesh on 15, 17 and 19 June. The matches will be held at the Shere Bangla stadium in Mirpur. The team members comprises:  Suresh Raina (Captain), Robin Uthappa,  Ajinkya Rahane,  Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu,    Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma and Amit Mishra.

     

    Captain cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli may have been kept out to provide them much needed rest before the crucial England tour. Uthappa who is the leading run scorer in the ongoing IPL is now all set to make a comeback in Team Blue.

     

    Meanwhile the Indian squad for the England test series is as follows:  M.S. Dhoni (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir,Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravinder Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishwar Pandey, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Varun Arora, Wriddhiman Saha and Pankaj Singh.

     

     

    The England tour will begin from 26 June with a three-day game to be held in Leicester. India will play one more warm-up, three against Derbyshire (1-3 July) before the five-match test series that starts on 9 July at Trent Bridge. The other tests are to be played at Lord’s (17-21 July), Ageas Bowl in Southampton (27-31 July), Old Trafford (7-11 August) and The Oval (15-19 August). The tests would be followed by the five-match ODI series commencing on 25 August at Bristol before India completes the visit by playing a one-off T20 international against the hosts on 7 September at Edgbaston.

     

    But both the series will be in direct conflict with the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil that will begin from 12 June and culminate on 13 July.

  • Geo Super to Produce and Broadcast Pakistan vs Sri Lanka ODI and Test Series

    Geo Super to Produce and Broadcast Pakistan vs Sri Lanka ODI and Test Series

    MUMBAI: Geo Super, the Sports broadcasting arm of Pakistan’s leading Geo TV Network is set to produce and broadcast live, the much-awaited home series against Sri Lanka. Geo Super will be producing and telecasting the series where Pakistan is scheduled to play Five ODIs and Three Test Matches from 18th December 2013 till 20th January 2014 in UAE.

    Mr. Tahseen Shaukat, Executive Director, Geo TV Network said “We are pleased to be associated with Pakistan Cricket Board as Host Broadcaster and Global Rights Holder of Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka series. We are well on course to produce this series at par with international standards. This association shows our commitment towards promoting Pakistan Cricket and we take pride as being the first Pakistani company producing international cricket which has in the past been controlled by international networks”.

    According to ICC rankings, Pakistan is a stronger Test Side with currently number four position as compared to Sri Lanka which currently stands at number seven whereas in ODIs, Sri Lanka is ahead of Pakistan at number four whereas Pakistan stands at number six.

    Commenting on the preparations for the Sri Lanka Series Mr. Subhan Ahmad, COO PCB said “We are grateful to all our partners especially Geo TV for coming forward in support of Pakistan’s home series. We greatly value this association.”