The first of the five Tests on England‘s tour of India is set to take place at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on January 25. The fifth and final game of the series will take place at the gorgeous location in Dharamsala. Fans in the UK, however, were concerned because, up until TNT Sports’ entry, no organization had obtained television broadcasting rights. TNT will now air the full tour across the subcontinent following the dramatic last-minute signing of an arrangement.
TNT Sports’ last-minute admission will enable them to stream the home games of Indian cricket teams, beginning with the red-ball series against The Three Lions. Fans back home will finally be able to witness the two massive cricketing nations square off in an exciting match that is also a part of the World Test Championship 2023–25 cycle, thus the move has undoubtedly brought a tremendous breath of relief.
Prior to 2017, at the latest, Sky Sports UK was officially designated as the broadcaster of every England away game played since 1990. Nonetheless, TNT made a strong argument to serve as the home of England away games, citing their intense interest as demonstrated by their coverage of the last two Ashes visits in Australia. Furthermore, their influence grew when TNT was named the official broadcaster of the just finished West Indies series.
A five-year agreement is signed by TNT Sports to broadcast India home games in the UK.
The Daily Mail UK reports that TNT Sports has an exclusive five-year deal to broadcast all of the Men in Blue’s away games in the UK. This deal kicks off with the forthcoming red-ball series. This effectively means that they will also broadcast England’s next Test series in 2025.
Due to anticipated logistical issues with the series starting only one week early, it is likely that the broadcaster will set up shop back home and show the on-ground coverage from Pitch Agency, the official licensed distributor of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).