Hyderabad: Star Sports has teamed up with superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna to bring millions of Cricket fans an unmatched viewing experience of IPL 2023, on Star Sports Telugu.
The association forms part of Star Sports’ continuing endeavour to take Cricket deeper and grow fandom for the sport in key markets like Andhra Pradesh & Telangana.
Balakrishna Garu, with a career spanning close to 50 years, is also an ardent Cricket fan and was an active cricketer during his college days, playing alongside the likes of former Indian Captain, Mohammad Azharuddin.
He continues to maintain a strong association with the game, captaining a Cricket team in a celebrity league and is often caught on camera playing Cricket on the sets of his films.
Since its launch in 2019, Star Sports Telugu has become the No. 1 destination for sports in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. More than 85 pc Cricket viewership in the neighbouring states now happens in Telugu, led by former Indian Cricketers - Venugopal Rao (also IPL title winner) and MSK Prasad (also former Chief Selector) – and featuring one of the greatest Cricketers of all time – Mithali Raj.
The popularity of the Cricket broadcast in Telugu has also shown significant growth over the last 6 months with TV viewership for India’s bilateral T20Is played in January and February growing by ~20 pc. This has prompted Star Sports to launch SS1 Telugu in HD to satiate the appetite for high-quality sports content in the local language with culturally relevant storytelling.
Balakrishna Garu is set to take the mix of sports and entertainment to a whole new level on Star Sports Telugu, bringing viewers 'Incredible Action, Ata Unstoppable' that will leave them craving for more.
Fans can expect an IPL season like never before, with Balakrishna Garu, sharing the commentary box with Rao and Prasad, and bringing to life, in his inimitable style, a super-fans perspective on the game.
Fans will also have the unique opportunity to watch and engage with the icon LIVE on TV for the very first time via #AskStar. He will also feature on Cricket Live – India’s most-watched Cricket show – which will have a unique game-show format this year.
Speaking on his association with Star Sports Telugu, Nandamuri Balakrishna said, “As a cricket fan, I am delighted to be associated with IPL on Star Sports Telugu. My favourite memories of IPL include enjoying the games on a big screen with my friends and family and I am very excited that our Telugu fans will now get to watch me on the coverage. I will be supporting all our cricketing heroes and hope it will be a special season for all of us. I am looking forward to join the Star Sports Telugu experts on 31st March.”
A Star Sports Spokesperson said, “We are delighted to associate with the iconic star Nandamuri Balakrishna. We have always been committed to providing the best viewing experiences to our fans with exciting collaborations which add new dimensions to our broadcast."
"With Balakrishna Garu’s immense popularity, love for the sport and experience of being a talk show host, his inclusion becomes a perfect fit as we aim to make the IPL broadcast “incredible”. We have seen what a fantastic talk show host he is and believe he will bring the same charisma and unabashed opinion to the Star Sports Telugu commentary box and studio. We are sure fan eagerly await to see a different side of this dynamic super star on Star Sports Telugu,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Star Sports’ campaign ‘Shor On, Game On’ featuring an exquisite line-up of superstars, has already created a storm on social media. Upping the ante, ‘Har Ghar Banega Stadium’, the clarion call made by King Kohli, in another film to celebrate the IPL as a community, has already gone viral calling fans to enjoy the matches with friends and family on the big screen.
Adding more flavour and fanfare to the excitement, the Telugu commentary panel boasts of the best experts like former Chief Selector of the Indian Cricket team, MSK Prasad, former India captain Mithali Raj, IPL champions - Venugopal Rao, T Suman, Ashish Reddy and Kalyan Krishna among a host of others. (UNI)
(Photo Credit: Twitter/Star Sports Telugu)
