Sony Sports Network has confirmed live coverage of India’s men’s and women’s cricket campaigns at the Asian Games, where both teams will defend the double gold they claimed at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou. The women’s competition begins on September 17, 2026, ahead of the opening ceremony, while the men’s tournament starts on September 24.
Star debuts and a title defence
Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are among the men’s players making their first Asian Games appearances, with Iyer leading the squad. The women’s team, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, includes Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh.
Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer and Business Head, Sports and International, Sony Pictures Networks India, said the presence of players such as Bumrah, Iyer, Kaur and Mandhana “makes it one of the most anticipated cricketing events of the year.”
Broadcast and commentary plan
The network’s studio show Sports Extraaa will carry expert analysis, and all India matches will be available in five languages. Because the women’s tournament starts before the official opening ceremony, it also gives Sony an early window to build viewership and test audience signals.
- Women’s panel: Mithali Raj, Anjum Chopra, Reema Malhotra and WV Raman.
- Men’s panel: Ajay Jadeja, Sanjay Manjrekar and WV Raman.
- Language feeds: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
- Platforms: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV from September 17, 2026.
What this means for marketers
For media planners and brand teams, this is more than a cricket broadcast. The Asian Games puts cricket inside a larger multi-sport event, creating inventory that can reach both dedicated cricket fans and broader Games audiences. The five-language commentary is particularly important in India, where regional feeds have become central to improving engagement, reach and sponsor recall.
Sanjay Manjrekar, part of the men’s coverage panel, said “this squad has everything it takes to continue that legacy,” while Mithali Raj noted that “every gold medal matters beyond the sport itself, adding to India’s overall medal tally at the Games.”
The activation question for advertisers is whether they will treat this as a national broadcast or build language-specific messaging around the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada feeds. For marketing students, that is a useful lens: audience first, then platform, language and timing. Monitoring how Sony Sports Network packages match highlights, panel clips and regional content on social and Sony LIV will offer a quick read on how a broadcaster stretches a single property across multiple audience segments.
Source: MediaNews4U
