India among favourites for next T20 World Cup, says Australia cricket legend Gilchrist

Agencies
November 6, 2019

Melbourne, Nov 6: Australia cricket legend Adam Gilchrist on Wednesday said T20 cricket is a bit of lottery but pinned India as one of the favourites to lift the format's ICC World Cup in his country next year.

Besides India, Gilchrist picked England, his own country and New Zealand as the front-runners.

"Probably they (India) will be featuring in semi-finals and the finals. I can't predict who is going to win but I suspect that the usual suspects like India, England, Australia and New Zealand will probably make the long way, semi-finals of course," Gilchrist said at a promotional event here.

Insisting that current world no.1 T20 side Pakistan too cannot be counted out, Gilchrist said even though he has listed his favourites, it is hard to predict anything in the shortest format of the game.

"Pakistan is number one ranked team in the format, so you cannot rule them out. But T20 cricket is a bit of lottery so it is hard to predict the winner until the final runs are scored or wickets are taken," he added.

The ICC Women's T20 World Cup begins from February 21 with hosts Australia taking on India at Sydney and the final us slated for March 8 -- the International Women's Day -- at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 45-match ICC Men's T20 World Cup too will be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15 next year.

The two events will be played across eight Australian cities -- Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

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News Network
March 22,2024

IPL.jpg

The start of the world’s most lucrative cricket tournament in India is presenting investors with another big opportunity to cash in on the sport, months after the world’s most populous nation hosted the Cricket World Cup.

The eight-week long Indian Premier League begins March 22 for its 17th season. Since its inception, the fast-paced cricket tournament has become a corporate juggernaut to rival the National Football League in the US and the English Premier League in value.

Just as October’s Cricket World Cup boosted consumption in India for months, fans are expected to flock to restaurants, pubs and food delivery platforms over the duration of the tournament. This year’s IPL also coincides with general elections that will last for six weeks starting April 19, a period when companies are expecting higher food and drink sales as people flock to rallies and other events.

“There’s going to be a lot of spending,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. “IPL, as well as the election, gives a three-month corridor with enhanced economic activity.”

Stocks in India such as McDonald’s franchise operator Westlife Foodworld Ltd. and peer Sapphire Foods India Ltd. gained ahead of the first match on Friday, as well as hotels and beverage makers. Packaged-food companies could also stand to benefit from the IPL craze, said Sachil Bobade, an analyst at investment firm Dolat Capital Market.

The IPL ecosystem was valued at $11 billion (Rs 91,721 crores) in 2023, including the value of media rights and sponsorships, according to Indian valuation consulting firm D&P Advisory.

The league is also attracting record sums of money from sponsors and broadcasters. Conglomerate Tata Group won the title sponsorship rights of the tournament in January for a record 25 billion rupees ($300 million). Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s media venture secured the digital streaming rights in 2022 for five years for $2.7 billion, while Walt Disney Co. paid roughly the same for TV rights.

“There was a serious amount of bidding even this year,” said Vinit Karnik, head of entertainment, esports and sports at media agency GroupM South Asia. “I see growth in IPL in double digits year-on-year,” he adds.

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