Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), home to the best of international cricket action, i

Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), home to the best of international cricket action, i

~Glenn McGrath, Virender Sehwag, Ajay Jadeja, Nick Knight, Sanjay Manjrekar, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Kaif, Harsha Bhogle and more all set to be a part of the star-studded panel of Extraaa Innings for the highly anticipated India tour of Australia 2020~

 ~India tour of Australia will be aired LIVE on SONY TEN 1 channels in English, SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi and SONY SIX channels in English, Tamil and Telugu starting from November 27, 2020 at 8:00 am in the morning~ 

~Sony Sports launches its campaign #CricketKaAsliRang that celebrates the undying true-blue love for cricket of every Indian for the upcoming India Tour of Australia~

Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), home to the best of international cricket action, is all set to broadcast the highly anticipated India tour of Australia 2020 series which will feature 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 4 Tests, starting November 27, 2020 and will be aired LIVE on SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 3 and SONY SIX channels in India from 8.00 am IST and will be livestreamed on its on-demand OTT platform SonyLIV.

SPSN will broadcast the series on SONY TEN 1 channels in English, SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi and SONY SIX channels in English, Tamil and Telugu. The ODIs and T20Is will be telecast across three channels SONY SIX (English, Tamil & Telugu), SONY TEN 1 (English) and SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) while the Test matches will be telecast on SONY SIX (English) & SONY TEN 3 ( Hindi) channels.

To further enhance the fan experience and ensure an unparalleled viewing experience for audiences across the nation, SPSN will return with its flagship studio show Extraaa Innings. Extraaa Innings will feature a star-studded line-up of legends and former cricketers like Glenn McGrath, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajay Jadeja, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Nick Knight, Mohammad Kaif, Murali Karthik, Vivek Razdan, Ajit Agarkar and Vijay Dahiya who will share their insights with viewers through the course of the series. Harsha Bhogle and Arjun Pandit have been roped in as English and Hindi presenters respectively along with Erin Holland who will be the on-ground presenter for the series.

Viewers in India will get to experience both world feed commentary from Australia with Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist as well as customized English and Hindi commentary from SPSN’s band of panelists. SPSN has also tied up with Fox Sports Australia and will feature their eminent panelists like Allan Border, Isa Guha and Brendan Julian on Extraaa Innings and viewers in Australia will also get to enjoy SPSN’s Hindi commentary on Fox Sport Australia’s digital platform. The commentators for the Tamil feed will feature Arasu, Sheshadri Srinivasan, Vidhyut Sivaramakrishnan, R Sathish and Naveen Shauri while the commentators for the Telugu feed will feature RJ Hemant, Vijay Mahavadi, Gnaneshwar Rao, C Venkatesh and Illendula Ramprasad.

Sony Pictures Sports Network announces its sponsors for the blockbuster series and the co-presenters of the series include Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., My11Circle, Byju’s, Payments on Amazon.in and Vimal Pan Masala while the associate sponsors include Mondelez, Pernod Ricard, MRF, SBI Mutual Fund, Netflix and Ather Energy to name a few.. In addition to this, Dettol has been roped in as the presenting sponsor for the studio show, “Dettol Extraaa Innings”  

To connect with the sentiments and engage with the Indian cricket fans, SPSN launched the #CricketKaAsliRang campaign that pays an ode to the undying true-blue love for the game of cricket. The campaign is a clarion call to all the Indian cricket fans, across the globe, invoking them to show support and cheer for their home team. The campaign is based on a simple insight that for every Indian cricket fan, no matter who the opponent or the player, the heart beats only for Team India, the voice cheers only for Team India and the true colour of cricket for India is BLUE. The campaign film invokes the true BLUE love for cricket through the creative lens of ripping clothes to reveal the second skin of every Indian – ‘The colour of the Indian cricket – Blue’. The film resonates with people from different walks of life as they indulge in celebrating the return of Men in Blue on the pitch after nine months against their toughest rivals Australia, in Australia.

Links to watch the films:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrLAqDCA2t4&feature=youtu.be (Hindi)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUJh_yB8ZgU&feature=youtu.be (English)

 Comments:

Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India:

“Cricket in India is not just a sport; it is an emotion and Sony Sports is excited to showcase all LIVE action from Team India’s first endeavour after nine months against Indian cricket’s biggest rival, Australia. This will also be the first time that fans will be allowed to attend an international match as all the recent international series since March were played behind closed doors. We know how significant this series is for Indian fans and will be airing the series with four language feeds -English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu to reach out to a wider set of viewers. We are also excited to bring back our studio show Extraaa Innings, which will feature some of the most respected names from the cricketing fraternity like Glenn McGrath, Harsha Bhogle, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajay Jadeja, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Nick Knight and more to provide their expert insights for an unapparelled viewing experience to our fans through the series.”

 Glenn McGrath, Former Australian Fast Bowler & Panelist, Dettol Extraaa Innings

“Any series between these two cricketing giants is always a spectacle to watch as it is one of the fiercest rivalries in modern-day cricket. The Indian cricket team will face a much tougher Australian team now that Smith and Warner are back but the Indian team is equally strong with an aggressive mentality and determination to win the series. The current Indian team has got the confidence of playing in Australian conditions now and they know how to do it as they’ve been successful here in the last tour. I think it’s going to be a really good series for fans of bot the countries and the neutrals who love watching cricket for the love of the game.”

Zaheer Khan, Former Indian Player, Panelist – Dettol Extraaa Innings

“Now with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner to the Australian side, the Indian team is definitely going to face a stiffer competition than their previous tour Down Under. There are no favourites going into the series as both the sides have quality batting and bowling line-up in their squad and that is what will make the upcoming tour interesting and exciting to watch. Australian pitches have always had good bounce and pace, so I think the area which will decide the ODIs, T20Is and Tests will be the bowlers and how well the team bowls as a unit to restrict the opponent to a lower total on the scoreboard. When someone talks about the top line bowlers in the world right now, the names of the players that come to our mind will all be on the pitch for this series.”

Sanjay Manjrekar, Former Indian Player, Panelist – Dettol Extraaa Innings

“I am very happy to be back in the commentary panel for this highly anticipated India tour of Australia. It will be India’s first international cricket after nine months which makes it even more eye catching as India led by Virat embark on their first tour under the bio-secure bubble. Australia’s Test team will be stronger than it was on India’s previous tour, the experience of Smith and Warner will add muscle to the Aussie side but I believe India’s bowling attack is ready to have their names carved in the history of Indian cricket by winning a consecutive series Down Under. It will also be pleasing to see fans return to the stadium in some numbers, it will no doubt lift the mood of the players and the atmosphere within the stadium as no sport is complete without an audience, right?”

Watch India Tour of Australia, starting 27^th November 2020, from 8:00 am, LIVE on SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 3 and SONY SIX channels.

About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN):

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, Japan

SPN has several channels including Sony Entertainment Television (SET and SET HD), one of India’s leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India’s premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, another Hindi movie channel showcasing great India Cinema; MAX HD, a high definition Hindi movie channel airing premium quality films; WAH, the FTA channel for Hindi movies; SAB and SAB HD the family-oriented Hindi comedy entertainment channels; PAL, a genre leader in rural Hindi speaking markets (HSM) showcasing the best of Hindi general entertainment and Hindi movies from SPN’s content library; PIX and PIX HD, Sony BBC Earth and Sony BBC Earth HD, the premium factual entertainment channels, Sony AATH, the Bangla entertainment channel; YAY!, the kids entertainment channel; sports entertainment channels – SONY SIX, SONY SIX HD, SONY TEN 1,  SONY TEN 1 HD, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 2 HD, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 3 HD; Sony मराठी, the Marathi general entertainment channel; SonyLIV – the digital entertainment VOD platform; SPN Productions, the networks’ film production arm and Studio NEXT the independent production venture for original content and IPs for TV and digital media. SPN reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India and is available in 167 countries.

The network is recognized as an employer of choice within and outside the media industry. SPN is a recipient of several awards, including India’s Best Companies to Work For 2020 by the Great Place to Work® Institute, India, ‘Aon Best Employers India’ awards in recognition of SPN’s unique workplace culture and exceptional people practices, consistently ranking amongst India’s Top 10 Companies with Best Health & Wellness Practices by SHRM & CGP Partners and listed by Working Mother & AVTAR as one of the 100 Best Companies for Women in India.

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited is in its 25^th year of operations in India. It has a subsidiary, MSM-Worldwide Factual Media Private Limited and an affiliate, Bangla Entertainment Private Limited in India.

For more information, log onto www.sonypicturesnetworks.com