Get bowled over this cricket season on Twitter!

Since the start of April, there’s been over 5 million Tweets on cricket from teams, players and fans alike. That’s an 81% increase in conversation volume compared with the same period a year ago!

India explodes with Tweets on Cricket over the opening weekend and the conversation goes global (as shown in the heatmap below) as the cricket season heats up!

As the 2018 summer of T20 gets underway, Twitter has lined up a host of innovative interactive experiences for fans to enjoy the best of cricket moments and conversations as they happen live on the platform.

Fans will be treated to a LIVE cricket show #CricbuzzLIVE, personalized video Twitter Q&A with expert commentators, English and Indian language Twitter Emojis for all eight franchises, and more only on Twitter experiences.

The latest collaboration builds on the strong Twitter innovation with the summer of T20 over the past few years. Here’s three great ways to enjoy the cricket on Twitter this season:

1. Watch #CricbuzzLIVE, the first season long LIVE cricket show on Twitter: Cricket fans worldwide will be able to enjoy the #CricbuzzLIVEpreview show every Saturday during the season and before each game in the Playoffs and Finals. The live streams will feature a curated timeline of Tweets from which fans can engage directly with the show and join in the cricket conversation with an expert panel that includes: Zaheer Khan (@ImZaheer), Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha), Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur), Michael Vaughan (@michaelvaughan), Simon Doull (@Sdoull), Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj), Gautam Bhimani (@gbhimani) and Danish Sait (@DanishSait).

#CricbuzzLIVE will be available to logged-in and logged-out users on Twitter and connected devices. Cricket fans can access the live streams at live.twitter.com/cricbuzzlive and@cricbuzz on Twitter.  Cricket fans can also click on the Tweet below to set a reminder to watch the show:

https://twitter.com/i/events/980852279942131712

In addition to the special #CricbuzzLIVE live streams every Saturday, fans can also watch live video directly from the @Cricbuzz Twitter account every day throughout the season with a dedicated mix of analysis, player interviews and recaps.

2. Join in the personalized video Twitter Q&A with expert commentators:Fans will get a unique opportunity to engage directly with the Star Sports Select Dugout team throughout the summer. The tailormade experience will offer fans an opportunity to interact directly with an illustrious list of commentators and experts from the Star Sports Select  simply by Tweeting @StarSportsIndiawith the hashtag #SelectDugout, and the best fan questions will get a personalized video response from a Star Sports Select expert via Twitter.

.@Cricprabhu that’s a good one. #SelectDugout pic.twitter.com/uE7U9owOEq

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 6, 2018

Not only will fans get a chance to have their questions answered, they will also get unique perspective about the game from a wide group of experts representing multiple nationalities including Brett Lee (@BrettLee_58), Scott Styris (@scottbstyris), Dean Jones (@ProfDeano), Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074), Damien Fleming (@bowlologist), Darren Sammy (@darrensammy88), Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49), Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) and a host of other select experts.

3. Cricket speaks your language on Twitter with Emojis from all eight teams in English or Indian languages:Fans can cheer for their favourite teams by Tweeting with the hashtags below to unlock their unique Twitter Emoji. Twitter has designed the emojis to be activated with hashtags in English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali so fans can add colour to their conversations around the matches and ensure their teams’ emojis are visible throughout the season.

• Mumbai Indians: #MumbaiIndians #क्रिकेटमेरीजान
• Chennai Super Kings: #WhistlePodu #விசில்போடு
• Kings XI Punjab: #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #KXIP
• Royal Challengers Bangalore: #PlayBold #RCB
• Sunrisers Hyderabad: #OrangeArmy #SRH
• Kolkata Knight Riders: #KKRHaiTaiyaar #কেকেআরতৈরী
• Delhi Daredevils: #DilDilli #दिलदिल्ली
• Rajasthan Royals: #Hallabol #हल्लाबोल