IND vs ENG 2024: TNT Sports' last-minute deal secures broadcast rights in the UK

England's tour of India is slated to begin from January 25 for the first of the five Tests, scheduled to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The series will end with the fifth and final game at the picturesque venue in Dharamsala. However, fans in the United Kingdom were worried, as no entity had secured television broadcasting rights until TNT Sports entered the arena. The dramatic last-minute signing of an agreement means that TNT will now broadcast the entire tour in the subcontinent.

This eleventh-hour entry of TNT Sports will allow them to broadcast Indian cricket team's home matches, starting with the red-ball series against The Three Lions. The move has surely given a huge sigh of relief to the fans back home, as they will finally be able to watch the two giant cricketing nations cross swords in an intriguing event, which is also a part of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.

Earlier, Sky Sports UK was the deemed broadcaster of all the matches played by England away from home since the 1990, which remained in place till 2017, at least. However, with TNT's keen interest visible from their broadcast of the previous two Ashes tours down under, they put their case forward to be the home for England games away from home. Additionally, their presence became stronger after TNT was the official broadcaster for the recently concluded series against the West Indies.

TNT Sports signs five-year deal for telecasting India home games in the UK

According to the Daily Mail UK, the upcoming red-ball series is the beginning of a five-year agreement by TNT Sports to exclusively broadcast in the UK all international home games played by the Men in Blue. Effectively, this indicates England's upcoming Test series in 2025 will also be aired by them.

Owing to the foreseeable logistical challenges with the series just a week ahead of its commencement, there is a probability that the broadcaster will set a studio back home, and display the on-ground coverage from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) official licensed distributor — Pitch Agency.