August has arrived and so is the time of BCCI's renewal of the media rights deal. The five-year media rights deal ended on March 31 and since then no home matches have taken place for India, either men's or women's. The BCCI secretary Jay Shah last month mentioned that the media rights auction will take place in August before the three-match ODI series between India and Australia next month, just before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The invitation to tender has been sent and interestingly, the women's international matches don't get a separate package.
As per a Cricbuzz report, the Indian women's cricket team's matches are grouped in 'Other Series'. The other series package includes all the domestic series, the Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy among others apart from all India A matches, Senior Women's competitions and age group competitions for both men and women.
This is a bit surprising considering the INR 951 crore deal for the Women's Premier League (WPL) for five years with the Viacom18 as it has its own identity and a separate structure.
India men's team's series against Ireland to have a new broadcaster
In other news, after the West Indies tour, the Indian men's team will be going to Ireland for a three-match T20I series and it seems there will be a new broadcaster for the assignment. The last time India played in Ireland in 2022, Sony Sports had rights for the series but the above report mentioned that Viacom18 is likely to get the rights this time around. Three matches are likely to be telecasted on Sports18 on TV and JioCinema on streaming.
With the Asia Cup set to start in less than two weeks when the Ireland series begins, the selectors chose to rest most of the players set to travel to Sri Lanka for the continental tournament with Jasprit Bumrah returning to the national side after 11 months while Rinku Singh received his maiden call-up.
