India turns to internet for latest cricket updates

Action-packed weekday cricket World Cup matches seem to have driven bumper traffic to internet sites in India.

According to Comscore, the tournament has caused a surge in visitation to cricket sites in India, as fans went online for the latest results and match updates. Sites reached their highest volume of traffic for the month during the week ending March 13, with 16.4 per cent of India’s online population visiting www.ESPNCricInfo.com and 13.4 per cent of web users visiting Yahoo Cricket.

For Wednesday’s India-Pakistan semi-final match, Google reports that use of its search engine have surged multifold. It said tickets for the match, at Mohali, have topped the search queries, followed by hotels to stay. “Maximum searches are coming from Karnataka, followed by Delhi and Maharashtra,” reports Google.

“The internet continues to play an increasingly important role in sports tournaments across the globe, as fans turn to the web for real-time updates, results and live-streaming of matches,” said Joe Nguyen, Comscore’s vice president for Southeast Asia. “We expect to see even greater visitation to cricket-related sites with the upcoming rivalry match between India and Pakistan on March 30, which is sure to be followed with great interest in both countries.”

In fact, live streaming of the India-South Africa match on www.espnstar.com has broken India’s online streaming record, with over three million streams being delivered to 1.5 million consumers on the mThe site generated a little more than 175 million page views between February 15 and March 23. It saw 20 million users in the period.

Aloke Malik, managing director, ESPN Software India, said: “The response to live streaming of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 on espnstar.com has been amazing. Consumers have enjoyed high quality online stream, which works well even on low bandwidth. We expect the traction to build as we progress further in the tournament.”