MUMBAI: Global social media giant Twitter has confirmed that 4.8 million tweets belonged to cricket in India in March, courtesy the India-Australia limited-overs tour in the country and the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Twitter is bringing cricket like never before to fans not just in India but the world over courtesy partnerships with Times-owned Cricbuzz and NDTV. Both these brands were a part of Twitter’s 12 premium video content partnership deals that were signed in September 2018.
Top names in cricket such as Harsha Bhogle, Gaurav Kapur and former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag are associated with Cricbuzz, which will bring live coverage and highlight clips from all IPL 2019 matches besides the regular pre, mid and post match shows.
Before the start of the IPL 2018, Twitter and Cricbuzz had collaborated for the first ever live stream in India on the social media platform called #CricbuzzLIVE every Saturday alongside a live curated timeline of tweets to a global cricket audience.
On the other hand, Twitter’s partnership with NDTV includes offering fans live pre and post-match video commentary as well as customized graphic explainers and scorecards.
Twitter APAC head of content partnerships Rahul Pushkarna stated: “Twitter is the best place to see what’s happening in the world of sports, especially this summer of cricket. We are pleased to have Cricbuzz and NDTV to bring cricket fans on Twitter exclusive live content on their favourite game.
“Cricket is consistently one of the world’s largest conversation drivers on Twitter and we expect to see more engagement from fans and brands alike as the season heats up.
“Back by popular demand we have emojis for all your favorite cricket teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and so many more.”
Amongst IPL teams as of 25 March, Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) has the largest following on Twitter with 5.01 million fans followed by Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) with 4.65 million fans and Kolkata Knight Riders (@KKRiders) with 4.15 million of them.
