MUMBAI: News18’s CricketNext.com has appointed former India captain and head coach Anil Kumble as its brand ambassador. Popularly known as ‘Jumbo’, Kumble is one of the most respected figures in the world game. He will bring his unique perspective in the form of video analysis, expert columns and fan interactions for their audience on the platform. Kumble’s association begins with a special show airing on CNN-News 18 at 11:30am on Saturday (December 1) to preview India’s all-important tour of Australia.
The complete show will immediately be available on CricketNext for the audience to view online and repeats on Sunday (December 2) at 11:30pm on CNN-News 18.
One of the greatest cricketers of all time, Kumble is among a select group of players to have rubbed shoulders with three generations of cricketers since his debut in 1990 until his retirement in 2008. Kumble holds the record for the most wicket taken by an Indian in Tests (619) and ODIs 337. He is also only one of two bowlers in history to have claimed all 10 wickets in a Test innings, a feat he achieved against Pakistan in New Delhi in 1999.
The digital platform’s existing pool of world-class cricket analysts has been amplified with Anil Kumble being on board to share his expert views on the sport. Through the association, the platform intends to enhance its bouquet of quality, original and exclusive content featuring a cricket legend, for its audience.
Talking about the association, Gaurav Kalra, Group Editor (Sports) – Network18 said, “Anil Kumble is one of the most respected figures in the world cricket. Apart from his outstanding achievements as a player, he is one of the most erudite and thoughtful cricketers of our time with a deep understanding of the game. I am thrilled that Anil will be sharing his thoughts and analysis on the burning issues in the game, across formats, on CricketNext. I am sure our audience will be eagerly awaiting his inputs and in-depth insights on the sport.”
Kumble’s association coincides with the introduction of the all-new CricketNext app, now available for download. It has a revamped interface, with a dashboard-style, visual live match scorecard featured on the home screen. Apart from live scores, ball by ball commentary and fixtures, the app has a brand new, in-depth statistics section, powered by 141 years of cricket data. Users can start by exploring one of the curated lists of statistics, and then dig deeper into cricket history by filtering the results to find exactly what they’re looking for.
The app has every past, present and upcoming series, going all the way back to the first Ashes played in 1877. Users can explore matches in detail; summary, quick scorecard, full scorecard, pitch report, squad lists, top performers of each team, head to head analysis, SWOT analysis, as well as batting, bowling and fielding stats. Going beyond the numbers, users can explore the match through interactive graphs.
CricketNext prides itself in offering the sharpest opinion, incisive analysis, as well as a unique perspective, brought to you by a team of veteran cricket writers and analysts, including Ayaz Memon, Prem Panicker, Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, Amit Varma and several others. The app features news, photos, videos, podcasts, quizzes, polls, live blogs, and player and team profiles.
