Tag Archives: IPL 2022

ESPN+ Doing A Decent Job, So Far, Providing 15-Minute Highlights Of The “ICC Men’s T20 World Cup”.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 20, 2022

Click to ENLARGE. Picture from my TV last night.
Click to ENLARGE. Picture from my TV last night.

Failure to do HIGHLIGHTS was the biggest drawback of cricket coverage on ESPN+.

Then, no doubt under commercial pressure from India, they started — grudgingly & stutteringly — doing 12-minute highlights for ‘IPL 2022’. That must have been well received. Then they started doing highlights of ALL games involving India. Yep, just for India & Indians.

I was real worried that they wouldn’t do highlights for the T20 World Cup. But, they have. I can’t be 100% sure but I think they have done all the games. At some point I will have to go back & check.

Their highlights aren’t bad either. They must have hired Indians to do it. I think 15 minutes highlights are a tad on the short side. 20 minutes would be Goldilocks. But, for now I am happy. Lets wait & see if they end up doing all the games. With the IPL, earlier this year, they didn’t do highlights on the matches that took place on the first weekend. I wrote & complained.

ESPN+ Providing ‘Tata IPL 2022’ Highlights Did NOT (Alas) Last For Long.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 4, 2022

Click to ENLARGE. From ESPN+.
Click to ENLARGE.

The IPL 2022 Highlights were like clockwork until last Friday (April 1, 2022) — Match 8: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Junjab Kings (PBKS). Then they stopped. Damn.

I spoke too soon.

On Sunday (i.e., April 3) I CALLED & spoke to an ESPN+ Rep. He didn’t fully understand the whole issue BUT he was sympathetic. He called up the ‘International Division’ etc. He promised to escalate it. A few hours later ONE new highlight (in both languages) popped-up.

But, highlights of the 2 Saturday matches are still missing.

Maybe the folks that do highlights don’t work on weekends! Would that be possible. WOW.

ESPN+ Doing A Good Job Providing ‘Tata IPL 2022’ Highlights (& Full Coverage) In The U.S.

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by Anura Guruge
on March 28, 2022

Click to ENLARGE.
Click to ENLARGE. From the official ‘IPL’ website.

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.