by Anura Guruge
on March 28, 2022
Until earlier this year ESPN+ failed to provide HIGHLIGHTS of the cricket matches they covered. It did NOT matter whether it was a Test, an ODI or T20I — they only provided the full, ball-by-ball coverage. This meant that it was pretty useless to most of us. However much we love cricket, most of us don’t have the time to watch 5- to 7-hours of ball-by-ball coverage. Even watching a T20I, which I enjoy, requires around 4-hours. This is why they have cricket highlights.
Though I subscribe to ESPN+ (& Willow) for the cricket, I had despaired of ESPN+. I love Willow’s coverage — BUT they, increasingly, are getting squeezed out, like with the IPL.
So, I was AMAZED & DELIGHTED to see, a few weeks ago, that ESPN+ had started doing highlights — both in English & Hindi — albeit, just for matches involving India. ESPN+, obviously, was bowing to pressure from the huge Indian fan base. I was glad. This was a start.
Their highlights, at present, are under 15-minutes — those for the IPL just under 14-minutes. To I, that is a tad too short. 1-hour highlights used to be the norm. But, I have noticed that even Willow is making 25-minute highlights. I think 30-minutes should be the mark.
That said, I, so far, having watched the first three IPL 2022 matches, have liked the 14-minute highlights. That worked out real well, yesterday, when we had two matches. I could fit in the highlights for both.
So, just want to pass this along given that I know that there are millions of folks in the U.S. who want to watch decent IPL highlights.
