India vs West Indies 2016: Star India grabs broadcast rights for T20 series in the USA
After an elaborate bidding process, the broadcast rights for the upcoming T20 series between India and the West Indies in the United States of America has been awarded to Star India Pvt. Ltd. The official announcement was made by the BCCI on Monday, Star India broadcasts the home matches of Indian cricket and is reported to have bargained the deal for INR 34.20 crores for the two matches to be played in Florida.
The series is a bold initiative by the cricket fraternity to popularise the game in the USA, though it is not the first time the “Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium” is going to host an international tie. Back in 2013, a two-match T20 series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka back in 2010. Recently, many fixtures of the concluded Caribbean Premier League were also staged in the 20,000 capacity stadium.
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As per the reports of Cricbuzz, BCCI president Ajay Shirke said, “I am pleased to announce that Star India will be the official broadcaster. It will ensure the BCCI is able to guarantee maximum exposure and further increase the visibility of this new initiative.”
The T20 Internationals will be preceded by the on-going Test series against these two nations in the Caribbean islands, with the third Test about to get underway on 9 August. After a dominating performance in the first Test by the Indian team, the hosts came back strongly in the second game. West Indian batsman Roston Chase played a gem of an innings and helped his team to share honours at Sabina Park in Jamaica.
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It was also learnt that the BCCI was pretty happy with Star Network’s contribution to Indian cricket and lauded them by saying, "Star India has been an excellent partner for the BCCI. They have a deep understanding of the game of cricket, and what it means to the nation. We are pleased to extend our association with them. This agreement also reflects our strategy to develop new markets and fan following."
The West Indies might not be on equal grounds with the Asian giants in the longer format, but are a force to reckon with in T20 matches. Having won the World T20 on two occasions, they are arguably the most successful side in this format and it will be interesting to see how the Indians fare against the side in the US.