Star Sports Network gears up for the biggest rivalry in Cricket this Sunday!

Star Sports – the global broadcaster for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 gears up for one of the greatest rivalries of cricket taking place at Old Trafford, Manchester, this Sunday Jun 16, 2019 when Team India will play Pakistan.

From the United Kingdom, exclusively on Star Sports Network, Bollywood Entertainer and superstar Ranveer Singh, known for his passion for cricket is all set to entertain fans on the network’s flagship show Philips Hue #CricketLive with anchor and commentator Jatin Sapru. On India’s opening game against South Africa earlier, the network had aired a special show called “Class of ‘83” where Ranveer was seen anchoring and presenting with legends Sunil Gavaskar, Syed Kirmani and World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev. In the same show, he challenged Jatin to take over his job as a presenter; and this Sunday fans can finally see them together to find out who could be a better presenter. The show will begin at 1:30 PM.

Apart from this, the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is back in the commentary box and will be seen opening twice! Sachin will be seen in the first 10 overs of both innings. So, grab a bucket of popcorn, don your national colours and get ready for a celebration of cricket with India taking on their arch-rivals Pakistan.

Starting 8 AM on Sunday, for cricket fanatics and all fans across the nation, Star Sports brings back ‘Dil Se India’, a specially curated segment to feature a series of flagship shows including ‘Follow the Blues’, Match Point, Game Plan, ICC Cricket Countdown and Sledgehammer. An exclusive show – ‘Frenemies’ will showcase legendary cricketers share their experiences from the previous rival matches. Some of the fun banter expected on the show will include Shoaib Akhtar with Virendra Sehwag and Anil Kumble with Wasim Akram.

Star Sports brings the broadcast of the ICC Cricket World Cup in seven languages such as – English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, apart from #SelectDugout meant for the ardent cricket aficionado. For a match of this stature the network brings on-board an illustrious panel of legendary cricketers to present and analyze the match from the United Kingdom and India. The panel includes Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Akram, Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ramiz Raja, Kevin Pietersen, Scott Styris and Dean Jonesamong many other legends of the Game.

Ahead of the clash on Sunday, some of Star Sports’ experts shared their thoughts on the greatest rivalry of cricket on the network:

Sachin Tendulkar on ‘Philips Hue Cricket Live’ said, “When you talk about the build-up, then in 2003 - a year before we played each other, people had started talking about that match. They said, come-what-may, you must win that game, after that whatever happens they really don’t care. I said, don’t think like that because players think differently. A team like India has ticked all the boxes – we are batting, bowling and fielding good, with that kind of confidence and the number of victories behind us, if we go out there and expand ourselves - we are a formidable opposition. Pakistan has always been unpredictable, and they are a dangerous side - so there is no way the Indian team is going to take them lightly. Every step that the Indian team takes forward, we would want to be 100% sure of what we are doing, and it is well thought and well planned.”

Sourav Ganguly on ‘Philips Hue Cricket Live said, “A game with Pakistan is a lot more than just a cricket match; it’s a mix of emotions. People get a bit carried away, and excited with this game, so from that point of view it’s going to be a huge game in Manchester on Sunday. My first trip as a captain against Pakistan in 2003 - we had never won there before, but then we won both the Test Matches and One-Day’s. My memories of playing against Pakistan have been happy times for India. In this World Cup 2019 team, Mohd. Amir was nowhere in the picture; they had dropped him, he comes back and takes up being the leading fast bowler in the squad. That's what you get from a side like Pakistan. India needs to be very careful, don’t go into this game thinking they are the favourites. I think they did that the last time in 2017 in the ICC Champions Trophy finals, and Pakistan beat them hands down. It's going to be a great game of cricket.”

Anil Kumble on ‘Philips Hue Cricket Live’, said “Both Sourav and Sachin expressed the sentiments of India vs Pakistan games. The lack of frequency of the matches certainly builds up the drama and the importance of the event itself. If you have to win the World Cup you have to consistently beat teams, and India-Pakistan matches have always been marquee events. ICC knows that; as soon as they opened out the schedule and ticketing, within 15 minutes the match was sold out and that’s the importance of an India - Pakistan match. The World Cup comes once in 4 years making the match all that more important. For a player, it’s another match - you still must do your skill sets well, you still have to bowl well, and take those catches; that’s something the Indian team will be focused on.”

Catch ‘Dil se India’ LIVE before India vs Pakistan encounter on 16^th June 2019, 8 am onwards, followed by Philips Hue Cricket Live at 1:30pm on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi and Star Sports 1 Hindi HD. The live match between India and Pakistan will be telecast on Star Sports 1 SD/HD, Star Sports 2 SD/HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi SD/HD, Star Sports Select 1 SD/HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada, Star Sports 1 Bangla – Asianet Plus and Hotstar.

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