Eurosport India scores exclusive rights for Afghanistan-Pakistan series

Eurosport India, Warner Bros. Discovery’s premium sports brand, today announces its exclusive broadcasting partnership deal with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Fire Bird Universe. The partnership will begin with the upcoming bilateral series between Afghanistan and Pakistan, that includes three One Day Internationals (ODIs) to be played from August 22, 2023, in Sri Lanka, which will be the neutral venue.

Match Days

1^st ODI: Hambantota, 14:45 HRS onwards; August 22, 2023

2^nd ODI: Hambantota, 14:45 HRS onwards; August 24, 2023

3^rd ODI: Colombo, 14:45 HRS onwards; August 26, 2023 

LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on EUROSPORT India from 14:45 hrs IST onwards 

Mr. Ruchir Jain, Head of Distribution & Eurosport, South Asia, Warner Bros. Discovery, said: “Cricket is a religion in India, and Eurosport is proud to bring fans live coverage of the ODI series between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are confident that this is just the start for us and we will continue to bring more high profile games to the screens of Indian fans in the near future.”

Road to Asia Cup and World Cup

The series would be a perfect way for both teams to build-up ahead of the Asia Cup and the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023. The Asia Cup is set to begin from 30^th August while the World Cup will start from 5^th October. All three ODIs of the Afghanistan-Pakistan bilateral series will be hosted in Hambantota and Colombo in Sri Lanka and in addition to match-time, the series would offer conditions which will be very similar to many venues of the Asia Cup and World Cup to both teams.

Deepak Jaswani, Co-promoter of FireBird ESM, shared, “The Afghanistan Cricket Board selected FireBird to enhance the global reach of their cricket. We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Eurosport, one of the premier global sports broadcasters for our upcoming ODI series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka. We appreciate Eurosport's enthusiasm and eagerly anticipate a stronger partnership that will bring more sports to Indian audiences. Afghanistan cricket and its players are growing in popularity, this partnership brings exciting limited-overs cricket to millions of subcontinental fans at home, marking the start of a promising relationship."

With players such as Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed of the Gujarat Titans making a mark in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and those like Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman also in their ranks, Afghanistan will be looking forward for a first series win against their neighbours Pakistan.

On the other hand, the Babar Azam led Pakistan along with key players like Imam-Ul- Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi, will try to maintain the clean sheet of the Men in Green as they go head to head with the Afghanistan team for the fifth time in an ODI.

Prior to this ODI series, Eurosport India have been the official broadcasters of the Bangladesh Premier League, the NepalT20 league this year, along with being the official broadcaster in India for the upcoming US Premier league.

Eurosport India’s journey with top-level cricket also saw it broadcast the historic Fairbreak Invitational back in 2022 and the Oman Tri series for fans in India. Eurosport India have also brought to Indian homes, major sporting events like the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as well as the 2022 AFC Asian Women’s Cup.