I came to the ‘IPL‘ late — about 5-years ago. But, now I love, just love it. I think it is the MOST exciting cricket you can see. The BEST. Not sure how they manage it, but every match proves to be classic.
The IPL had NOT been available on the ‘Willow‘ APP (on ‘Roku‘) for the last few years. They did NOT have the U.S. streaming rights. That was a PAIN. Willow is my favorite way to watch cricket — &, as such, I have a rolling, full-time subscription.
This year the IPL is on the Willow APP. That is brilliant.
I, however, had lost sight as to when the IPL was starting. Went to Willow last night & BINGO they were already on Match #7. So some catching up to do. But, I am delighted.
Click to ENLARGE. I got this in an e-mail this morning.Click to ENLARGE. Link to the Website.
I get e-mails from them. So, I got the above this morning. I started to glance through the ‘New York’ list. ‘Rashid HHan‘? Ah! That is how I saw it … read it. The ‘K’ looked just like an ‘H’. I started looking through.
I HONESTLY thought they had screwed up BIG TIME & got the names wrong.
It was ONLY when I looked at the names, again, more carefully that I realized that it was FONT ISSUE.
This, i.e., NOT showing the fall of ALL the wickets in the HIGHLIGHT (reel), has been going on for a few months now. [Well, it is not exactly new, BUT it never used to be widespread.]
I was watching the EXCITING 1st ODI between ‘Australia & India’. They did NOT show the fall of MOST WICKETS. One or two I could understand. We are talking 6,7 or MORE. Totally ruined the FLOW of the game. One minute there is one pair batting & then with NO WARNING a totally different pair.
This is inexcusable.
Willow used to be SO GOOD. They knew their cricket.
Contrary to what many Americans know & realize cricket has been in the U.S. since at least the 1920 — when British actors coming to Hollywood set up cricket teams.
I played cricket in Boston in the 1990s. You could see weekend cricket games in D.C. around that ear too.
Now with all the Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans & those from the Caribbean living in the U.S., it was inevitable.
I have been falling the rise of ‘Major League Cricket‘, the U.S. professional league, since its formation a few years ago.
Yes, we have had a few T20 games in the last few years.
This year, starting in a couple of days, we will have a proper T20 League — a micro-version of the ‘IPL‘. There is even a team that has ripped off a IPL Team logo!
This is GREAT. NOT this year, but one of these days I will try to make it to North Carolina to watch a game live. I have not see a professional, LIVE cricket match since c. 1997.
Click to ENLARGE.Click to ENLARGE. Screenshots from my 60″ TV.Click to ENLARGE. Full SCHEDULE for the 70 league matches. This will help you keep track. See below for downloadable PDF.
I am very disciplined & methodical when it comes to watching the IPL. I don’t skip around or just follow a few favorite teams. I watch the HIGHLIGHTS of EACH match in order in which they are played. I have the schedule printed out (ABOVE) & I go through it, systematically. This year (as you can see) I also put a tick against the team that won!
The ‘Willow TV‘ highlights this year, from what I can see can vary from ~40 mins. to just over 1 hour. So, in general, it takes me 2 days to watch a single game. Plus, I don’t watch cricket when I am away. So, I was always going to be a bit behind BUT now I realize I am way, way behind.
But, that is OK. I am in no rush. The matches will remain on Willow TV for at least another 3 months. I should be caught up by then.
Right now I am ONLY watching IPL cricket — forsaking all the other series! I LIKE THE IPL. Something about it. Higher class of cricket than average. It took me a LONG time to warm up to the IPL. I have only been watching it for about 5 years, if that. But, now I am hooked.
Click to ENLARGE. Screenshots from my 60″ TV.Click to ENLARGE. Full SCHEDULE for the 70 league matches. This will help you keep track. See below for downloadable PDF.
I have BOTH ‘Willow‘ & ‘ESPN+‘ subscriptions for cricket (& just for cricket).
I only watch ESPN+ under duress IF there is some cricket that is ONLY available through them. I even check poor-quality ‘YouTube’ before I opt to watch cricket on ESPN+. They just don’t have a clue — though, of late, they grudgingly provide HIGHLIGHTS for matches involving ‘India‘ (& just India).
On the other hand, cricket is Willow’s main business. Though NOT perfect they do a decent job. You can enjoy watching cricket on Willow.
I wasn’t, at first, a fan of IPL. I only got hooked on it in the last 4 or 5 years. During that time I was forced to watch it on India’s ‘Hotstar’ & ESPN+. ‘Hotstar’ is the PITS. Outright crooks. I will never, ever, ever have anything to do with them. I would rather just watch what I can find on YouTube. As I have already said, ESPN+ is not great.
But, having the IPL on Willow is MAGIC. I am delighted. I am relieved.
I just hope they don’t let me down now that I have raved about how happy & relieved I am. That tends to be just my luck — the Reverse Midas Touch that I have been blessed with. SMILE.
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.
Yes, of course, cricket is IMPORTANT. I, of all people, know & appreciate that.
But, staging an international cricket tour is v. EXPENSIVE & the lights and TV equipment require lots & lots of energy — something that Sri Lanka is currently desperately short of.
They don’t have petrol for their cars BUT they have all these floodlights BLAZING away.
The stadium was FULL. Everybody appeared to having a ball. None of them looked like they were hungry.
WTF?
If they don’t have the money to buy food where are they getting money to pay for the tickets? Come on …
This is confusing.
The wrong image.
Yes, I have heard that the tour will raise some desperately needed foreign currency — possibly from the TV coverage. But, I am not sure whether the tour will actually be profitable.
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.
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.
