The end of cricket’s golden era?
A stronger broadcaster's warning shot, IND’s first tour to AUS, & how Kohli out-aggressed AUS.
The end of cricket’s golden era?
The first warning shot from a stronger broadcaster, IND’s blind cricket team won’t go to PAK, & Verma is dropped from IND-W.
Uday Shankar, Vice Chair of the newly merged Jio-Disney entity, has threatened to kill cricket’s golden goose;
“Sports bodies…[have] capitalised on the fear of missing out (FOMO) that media companies face. We no longer suffer from FOMO. If we don’t bid for the next cycle of ICC rights, we can comfortably sit it out, and it won’t make a dent in our business.”
CONTEXT: Earlier this year, I analysed how Jio’s $3 billion dollar IPL media rights deal was unfeasible, and last week, Disney India stated that they needed to write off almost $1.5 billion from the ICC media rights deal. The Jio-Disney merger has created an Indian TV broadcast monopoly that is ready to cut costs.
The Indian Blind Cricket team has been barred from travelling to Pakistan for the World Cup on the eve of their journey, despite earlier approval. Pakistani organisers said the tournament will go on without them, while India’s General Secretary is understandably upset about the last minute change of heart.
Shafali Verma has been dropped from the India Women’s ODI team ahead of their tour of Australia, as her bad form finally catches up with her.
The BCB have signed their first ever sponsor for a Bangladesh Women’s series. Sharmin Akhter & Jahanara Alam have been recalled for the Ireland series after missing the T20 World Cup.
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India’s independence tour
IND’s first tour to AUS amidst independence, how Kohli out-aggressed AUS, & Labuschagne’s “long game” ambitions.
BBC’s Gulu Ezekiel writes about India’s first tour of Australia in 1947-48, and how the series nearly didn’t happen as a newly independent India was struggling with partition and strife.
Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Wu & Jon Pierik write about how Virat Kohli upped India’s aggression on previous successful Australia tours, Indian Express’ Sriram Veera writes about how the Aussie pacers can target Kohli this time, & Cricbuzz’s Bharat Sundaresan reports on how India’s top order is shaping up.
ESPNcricinfo’s Alex Malcolm talked to Marnus Labuschagne about “playing the long game”, Cricket.com’s Aakash Sivasubramaniam writes about Australia’s gamble on Nathan McSweeney, & Cricket Australia’s Andrew Ramsey writes about Perth’s mercurial pitch curator.
ESPNcricinfo’s Mohammad Isam asks where Bangladesh are going to find their next elite batter, while Andrew Miller reports on the Bangladeshis building a local cricket community (and facilities!) in East London.