The decline of Cricinfo and their obsession with India: A disservice to global fans

[Asad T]

The Decline of Cricinfo And Their Obsession With India: A Disservice to Global Fans

Cricinfo has always been the go-to place for cricket fans to get their news. But in recent years, it’s become wayyy too biased towards India, and it’s annoying me

I get that India is the biggest market. So sure, from a business perspective, it makes sense to lean a bit towards Indian content. But now it’s reached a point where 90% of their homepage is just India, India, India.

Take today for example—two massive updates from Pakistan:

1) PSL has been rescheduled.
2) Mike Hesson has been appointed as Pakistan’s new white-ball coach.

Both huge headlines. But they’re buried all the way down the page. Meanwhile, the top of the homepage is reserved for IPL deep dives and coverage about Kohli retiring from Tests.

Even in their live match coverage—they’ll do ball-by-ball for all sorts of random Indian domestic tournaments. But when it comes to Pakistan’s domestic cricket? At best, we get a scorecard dump after the game is over.

And honestly, even if you leave aside any anti-Pakistan bias—it’s just poor journalism. If I were a fan of NZ, England, Australia, South Africa, etc., I’d be annoyed too. There’s barely a whisper about County Cricket or anything happening outside India.

Cricinfo was supposed to be a neutral, global cricket journalism platform. But even here, it feels like they’re just sucking up to India.

It’s a big loss for the sport. It’s doing a massive disservice to global cricket fans.

I have no problem with them covering Indian cricket—it’s great engaging content. But at least give proper space to other regions too. Cricket is not just India.

Hat tip:

 

[Barragan]

I only use that site for live scores and nothing else

Only thing it's good for

 

[sweep_shot]

I wish there was an independent cricket news site. There is currently none.

Cricinfo and Cricbuzz are both mouthpieces of India. These are not independent sites.

 

[Asad T]

I only use that site for live scores and nothing else

Only thing it's good for

To be honest, i like some of their opinion pieces from Danyal Rasoon and Osman Samiuddin as well. But that's about it

 

[The Bald Eagle]

A race to the bottom for cricinfo...they need to realize cricket also exists as a sport beyond India....a great opportunity for other sites to fill the vacuum

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Cricinfo's decline started once it was acquired by ESPN. It was always an Indian website run by Indians, but if you followed this website from the early 2000s like I did, you would know that it was a cricket website first. Once ESPN acquired it, they started prioritizing profits like any greedy corporation which is why now you will even see investigative journalism pieces on some no-name IPL player they unearthed. Which is fine I guess, but its just not something that I or anyone who isn't Indian may care much about.

What surprises me is how poor their geographic versions are. If someone is opening the website in Pakistan then Pakistan cricket news should be front and center for them. Seems like they have not given much attention to any of that.

 

[Mamoon]

Kohli’s Test retirement is a bigger news than both, but what I find funny is how Cricinfo is focusing entirely on his 2016-2019 peak to somehow make him look like a legendary Test batsman when doesn’t even qualify as a great one.

 

[Rajdeep]

You need to change the edition to Pak to get PSL news in homepage

 

[BouncerGuy]

It isnot just CI, Cricbuzz is also going down the same route.

 

[sweep_shot]

It is a shame a sport like cricket doesn't have any major independent website. All major cricket sites are pretty much mouthpieces for India.

Cricket is no longer an English sport or a global sport. It turned into an Indian sport.

England sadly allowed the sport to be hijacked by India. They should've preserved the sport better.

 

[Markhor]

Cricinfo has declined massively. I understand the majority of its audience is Indian but it's been historically the flagship website for cricketing information and therefore has a responsibility to cover the global game.

As a kid I used to print off the match reports and up until a few years ago check the site daily. Not anymore. The coverage outside the Big 3 nations is poor.

They don't even have a correspondent from New Zealand or West Indies. I remember when Tony Cozier used to write for them, I learned so much about WI cricket from him.

Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe are barely covered. Yet they'll pump out dozens of IPL hot takes a week. They've got complacent and need competition.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Fore ever the victim, a'int ya? always the feeling of hard done by, someone elses fault that you are where you are.
That one page on given day gave you the ammo and oppurtunity to throw your tantrumrant....always the omnipresent Saazish...
must admit i amnot into the league cricket played any where, international cricket is my fav...
I for one enjoy cricinfo and its my daily cricket fix, Cheers for Cricinfo!

 

[mominsaigol]

The Decline of Cricinfo And Their Obsession With India: A Disservice to Global Fans

Cricinfo has always been the go-to place for cricket fans to get their news. But in recent years, it’s become wayyy too biased towards India, and it’s annoying me

I get that India is the biggest market. So sure, from a business perspective, it makes sense to lean a bit towards Indian content. But now it’s reached a point where 90% of their homepage is just India, India, India.

Take today for example—two massive updates from Pakistan:

1) PSL has been rescheduled.
2) Mike Hesson has been appointed as Pakistan’s new white-ball coach.

Both huge headlines. But they’re buried all the way down the page. Meanwhile, the top of the homepage is reserved for IPL deep dives and coverage about Kohli retiring from Tests.

Even in their live match coverage—they’ll do ball-by-ball for all sorts of random Indian domestic tournaments. But when it comes to Pakistan’s domestic cricket? At best, we get a scorecard dump after the game is over.

And honestly, even if you leave aside any anti-Pakistan bias—it’s just poor journalism. If I were a fan of NZ, England, Australia, South Africa, etc., I’d be annoyed too. There’s barely a whisper about County Cricket or anything happening outside India.

Cricinfo was supposed to be a neutral, global cricket journalism platform. But even here, it feels like they’re just sucking up to India.

It’s a big loss for the sport. It’s doing a massive disservice to global cricket fans.

I have no problem with them covering Indian cricket—it’s great engaging content. But at least give proper space to other regions too. Cricket is not just India.

I think you're reaching. You get tailored articles based of regions. If you're switched to India then you'll get biased articles.

 

[prisha]

Just need to switch it to Pak edition. You will get Pak news

 

[shah9425]

Indeed and cricbuzz is even worse than it

Both are pathetic nowadays

Mouthpieces of India

 

[Asad T]

Just need to switch it to Pak edition. You will get Pak news

Even on the Pak edition it's predominantly Indian except the very top

The issue is that even "Global" is 90% Indian

 

[Asad T]

I would also say their social media is biased. Look at the effort they put into the post of the resumption of the IPL vs PSL:

For the IPL, they added the proper schedules. Whereas for the PSL they only added the start date and didn't even bother adding a caption....

 

[Asad T]

I think you're reaching. You get tailored articles based of regions. If you're switched to India then you'll get biased articles.

My setting was set to "Global"

But I tried tinkering it to "Pakistan" as still 80% of it was Indian content -- see post #16

 

[Asad T]

Fore ever the victim, a'int ya? always the feeling of hard done by, someone elses fault that you are where you are.
That one page on given day gave you the ammo and oppurtunity to throw your tantrumrant....always the omnipresent Saazish...
must admit i amnot into the league cricket played any where, international cricket is my fav...
I for one enjoy cricinfo and its my daily cricket fix, Cheers for Cricinfo!

When did I claim I was a victim? I was just pointing out that Cricinfo is way too Indian-focused, and in doing so, it hinders the sport because it's considered the most popular cricket website.

 

[Hellion]

Cricinfo's decline started once it was acquired by ESPN. It was always an Indian website run by Indians, but if you followed this website from the early 2000s like I did, you would know that it was a cricket website first. Once ESPN acquired it, they started prioritizing profits like any greedy corporation which is why now you will even see investigative journalism pieces on some no-name IPL player they unearthed. Which is fine I guess, but its just not something that I or anyone who isn't Indian may care much about.

What surprises me is how poor their geographic versions are. If someone is opening the website in Pakistan then Pakistan cricket news should be front and center for them. Seems like they have not given much attention to any of that.

This is accurate. It's about profits.

They simply don't have the engagement from Pakistan on any metrics. Not just PAK but other non Big 3 nations as well.

They cover Big 3 extensively, including county and Shield cricket.

It's not just cricinfo. I have not seen any Pakistani sites that cover domestic/PSK cricket extensively and in a data driven manner. Heck ,not even analysts on X.

There was one - GRC and even they dont do much anymore .

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Majority of the audience is Indian so it's only natural that any cricket site will eventually be overtaken by parosis. It's the same with PakPassion where there are a lot of contributors and readers from that country, & the entire reddit cricket sub is dominated by them.

I wouldn't call it a decline, that's how things are sometimes. In a world which is focused on one particular region or country, the best that others can do is become valuable. Look at Australia for example, they are so excellent that they cannot be ignored. Even at their worst they are better than 80-90% of the cricketing teams if not all.

For Pak to become relevant in the cricketing world, we need a proper cricket renaissance. Winning back to back ICC trophies, beating the best teams consistently, doing well away from home, etc. If Pak win a series in RSA or England, we will automatically become the highlight. If we continue to drop matches in our home we will be nothing more than a laughing stock.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I don't blame them as much as I blame Indian fans. Indian fans are toxic and crazy. It is just easier for websites that have a large Indian fan base to do things to keep these fanatics at bay. If you make a false move they can doxx people and their families. Better to avoid anything that triggers them.

 

[sweep_shot]

I don't blame them as much as I blame Indian fans. Indian fans are toxic and crazy. It is just easier for websites that have a large Indian fan base to do things to keep these fanatics at bay. If you make a false move they can doxx people and their families. Better to avoid anything that triggers them.

We shouldn't give in. These bhakts cannot do much outside of India.

Biggest issue is most people are too tolerant/politically correct when it comes to Indian players and Indian fans. For example, when Kohli assaulted Konstas, there should have been more consequences. Kohli barely faced any penalty.

Anyway, some rich dude needs to launch an independent cricket site. Maybe a billionaire like Shahid Khan can do it.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

A really biased move from Cricinfo in such situations.... these sports sites should try to be neutral to keep the game just about the game but here CI acted more like a part of the godi media of India.

 

[sindhiboy]

Atleast its not like cricbuzz, which is not covering the psl at all now since pahalgam.

Cricinfo was good when it used to have a comments section on their article, they killed their engagement when they removed it.

 

[Major]

It is still the best cricketing website out there. When this whole Pakistan vs India battle took place, ESPN was mature enough to let the PSL content stay on their website. Unlike cricbuzz that removed PSL related news.

It has an Indian market to cater to, and yes we dont have the correspondents that we used to have in the past like Osman Samiuddin. I dont read the articles now, but back in 2005-2010 era, i grew up on there match previews. Cricinfo still is the most authetic news reporting website on cricket. Every other website posts false news but cricinfo tends to confirm their news first.

Still there is no other cricketing website that comes close, especially to its stats reporting and authentic news.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

It is still the best cricketing website out there. When this whole Pakistan vs India battle took place, ESPN was mature enough to let the PSL content stay on their website. Unlike cricbuzz that removed PSL related news.

It has an Indian market to cater to, and yes we dont have the correspondents that we used to have in the past like Osman Samiuddin. I dont read the articles now, but back in 2005-2010 era, i grew up on there match previews. Cricinfo still is the most authetic news reporting website on cricket. Every other website posts false news but cricinfo tends to confirm their news first.

Still there is no other cricketing website that comes close, especially to its stats reporting and authentic news.

This is true too.

 

[Major]

A race to the bottom for cricinfo...they need to realize cricket also exists as a sport beyond India....a great opportunity for other sites to fill the vacuum

Well than why havnt other sites fill the vaccum? Cricinfo started doing this in 2012.

Thing is, there is no demand. Cricinfo is still a very mature cricket website compared to every cricketing website and forum that exists out there.

I dont know if you know this, we werent even allowed to post cricinfo articles or mention cricinfo around here.

Cricinfo has never been petty with their policies. They will cater to the demand, and if there was demand from Pakistan they would hire better article writers. The Pakistani viewers watch people like Ifti and Wassay as cricket info.

No one comes close to Cricinfo even today in there reporting and the way they have led their organization. Every other org on cricket out there as behaved immaturely.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

We shouldn't give in. These bhakts cannot do much outside of India.

Biggest issue is most people are too tolerant/politically correct when it comes to Indian players and Indian fans. For example, when Kohli assaulted Konstas, there should have been more consequences. Kohli barely faced any penalty.

Anyway, some rich dude needs to launch an independent cricket site. Maybe a billionaire like Shahid Khan can do it.

We should be realistic. Indians are the ones who pour money into the game. Even if a rich person does invest they will tilt towards India.

 

[sweep_shot]

We should be realistic. Indians are the ones who pour money into the game. Even if a rich person does invest they will tilt towards India.

Game of cricket is older than India as a nation. How did cricket survive from 1877 till 1995?

I don't buy the argument that cricket cannot survive without Indian money.

I think people are afraid to disrupt the status quo. Also, greed plays a factor.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

There is very little demand for cricket analysis/info outside of the Big 3.

If Cricinfo were missing out on big markets , there would've been others to fill the vaccuum. That is not the case in PAK, NZ, SL, WI etc.

I can't think of anyone who covered BD, England and WI tour of PAK recently better than CI , despite empty stadiums in Pakistan.


I do agree they should do a better job if the geography is set to "Pakistan". But they usually have everything of importance covered

With PSL going H2H with IPL, coverage was always going to suffer.

 

[HitWicket]

Cricinfo no longer do ball by ball coverage of county cricket and doesn't send reporters to any county games anymore, it's pretty dire.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

At the end of the day, fact of the matter is that all the best cricket writers write for Cricinfo. Osman Samiuddin, Sid Monga, Andrew Fidel Fernando, Andrew Miller...that stats guy who writes some really interesting stats-focused pieces. The UI is bearable and doesn't make you wanna close the window. They have also added a bunch of features like player v player comparison, AskCricinfo (this one needs some work) that make statistical research on players really easy.

Despite certain drawbacks and the outsized level of focus on Indian cricket, its still the best cricket website out there.

Even before Cricbuzz exposed themselves with their reporting of unsubstantiated lies, I hated visiting their website because of the awful UI. Also, I can never really respect a website that puts a paywall over written content.

 

[ElRaja]

apart from test cricket in england and aus, which has a very sticky, very idiosyncratic fan base, cricket is losing dedicated fans everywhere other than india. but indian fans more than make up for losing the rest of the world, so economically it doesnt matter, but from a competitive point of view it erodes the sport. cricinfo is a symptom, not the cause.

 

[RexRex]

I visit Cricinfo just for the scorecards. Opinion pieces don't interest me anymore. They are mostly stats based articles and have little to none juicy bits and very few anecdotes, unlike in the golden days of Cricinfo.

Cricket has become a rich sport and players are now reluctant to speak their minds and say anything interesting.

 

[Suleiman]

I formed all my opinions from cricinfo statsguru growing up that’s one of the primary reasons I consider sachin to be the greatest of all time

 

[giri26]

Atleast its not like cricbuzz, which is not covering the psl at all now since pahalgam.

Cricinfo was good when it used to have a comments section on their article, they killed their engagement when they removed it.

Cricbuzz is an Indian site headquartered in Bengaluru. They probably will have to follow the Govt directive and the sentiments of people where they are running the site from. Even though wrong you cannot be cross with them for being biased towards India. Cricinfo though are different and their justification is following where the most readers come from. Indian fans are the ones mostly visiting their sites and thats how they design their website. It is a known strategy and it is a business. No site is doing charity. They are doing where the money is, same like the cricketers who feature on the site. Its all business, no need to get sentimental. The best way is to change the region to Pakistan and at least get the news about the team at the top. IPL & Virat Kohli is the news which is selling at the moment and no wonder Cricinfo is featuring that a lot on their site irrespective of the region.

 

[Major]

I visit Cricinfo just for the scorecards. Opinion pieces don't interest me anymore. They are mostly stats based articles and have little to none juicy bits and very few anecdotes, unlike in the golden days of Cricinfo.

Cricket has become a rich sport and players are now reluctant to speak their minds and say anything interesting.

true. The articles are too much stat based and there is never anything interesting in them.

In the golden days of cricinfo, when information on cricketers was very limited, i loved their piece on the preview where they would write on the players to watch out for, those x factor players. They used to be dead accurate on those.

 

[light]

I agree with you on some aspect but a GOAT is retiring from test. One of the best batsmen to play the game. Pretty sure that is a huge news compared to who Pak's next coach is or PSL being reschedules - again other than Pak - No one really cares tbh (Similar to IPL - not many other than Indians actually cares - but you have a point here, i'll give you that!). Can you name the coaches for Zim, BD, or even SL? Heck, I don't even know who the previous coach of Pak was prior to Henson.

 

[mominsaigol]

My setting was set to "Global"

But I tried tinkering it to "Pakistan" as still 80% of it was Indian content -- see post #16

Fair enough

 

[Cover Drive Six]

This is how business works, why would anyone give coverage to something that doesn’t bring in profit?
If the PSL and BPL are happening at the same time, it’s obvious that the PSL will get more coverage than the BPL.
Similarly, when both the IPL and PSL are running simultaneously, the IPL will naturally receive more attention due to large view ship and commercial.

Usually, leagues like the BBL or PSL get decent coverage on Cricinfo when they aren’t competing with bigger leagues.
It’s funny how some Pakistani fans are complaining that the PSL isn't getting enough coverage. Why would anyone focus on the Peanut Size League(PSL) while the IPL is in full swing?

Maybe you guys should request the PCB to launch its own cricket app and call it "Bunyan Buzz", just make sure it doesn’t vanish a few hours after launch like last time.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I visit Cricinfo just for the scorecards. Opinion pieces don't interest me anymore. They are mostly stats based articles and have little to none juicy bits and very few anecdotes, unlike in the golden days of Cricinfo.

Cricket has become a rich sport and players are now reluctant to speak their minds and say anything interesting.

Writers like Andrew Fidel Fernando, Osman Samiuddin and Sid Monga are still putting out quality pieces.

 

[sweep_shot]

I think MCC should launch their own cricket website (similar to Cricinfo but without the Indian bias).

England invented the sport. They should preserve it.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I think MCC should launch their own cricket website (similar to Cricinfo but without the Indian bias).

England invented the sport. They should preserve it.

There's already something called Wisden. You would've known that if you were truly a fan of "English" cricket.

 

[Shafikapeo]

Even on the Pak edition it's predominantly Indian except the very top

The issue is that even "Global" is 90% Indian

The ICC is not FIFA, and cricket is not football. Cricket was once celebrated as a globally neutral sport, transcending borders and uniting diverse cultures. However, India's growing financial influence through the BCCI has demonstrated that while money may not buy everything, it certainly holds significant power to shift the balance of influence in their favor.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Cricinfo has indeed lost its credibility...almost a dozen replacement announcement by PSL today but hardly any mention by them...In contrast some animated graphics for IPL recent player replacements.

 

[BDfanforever]

Oh yeah I mentioned this before. Some WPL games was getting more limelight than international matches.

With the ways things are going Cricket will be down to just IPL and WPL, and Indians will be only viewers of Cricket.

 

[Major]

I do miss the old cricinfo outlook. The traditional cricinfo before it went to ESPN and changed the whole theme.

 

[Asad T]

It looks like Cricinfo has stopped doing detailed live stats and MVP's for PSL matches after the conflict...

before:

after:

But they are still doing MVP's for IPL games...

 

[RidiculousMan]

I think MCC should launch their own cricket website (similar to Cricinfo but without the Indian bias).

England invented the sport. They should preserve it.

So you're suggesting that the British take over?

 

[Croma]

Why can Pakistan launch a rival website? maybe folks on this website could come together to try and make one...

 

[sweep_shot]

So you're suggesting that the British take over?

Better to have Brits than obnoxious shanghis/bhakts.

 

[U$ofA]

So you're suggesting that the British take over?

Better to have Brits than obnoxious shanghis/bhakts.

How does this said "takeover" happen? What is the process? Who starts this off?

 

[Josh]

How does this said "takeover" happen? What is the process? Who starts this off?

Sweepy brother by learning Ui design, react js and donating the website to ecb

 

[BunnyRabbit]

The 25 best t20 list is such an awful list. Dhoni in top 10. Bhuvneshwar and Dan Christian in the top 25 while no Umar Gul, Morgan, Steyn, Hussey, Vettori, Miller, Gilchrist.
Baz quite down in the list. Apart from a few reputable writers, Cricinfo is becoming a joke.

 

[sweep_shot]

The 25 best t20 list is such an awful list. Dhoni in top 10. Bhuvneshwar and Dan Christian in the top 25 while no Umar Gul, Morgan, Steyn, Hussey, Vettori, Miller, Gilchrist.
Baz quite down in the list. Apart from a few reputable writers, Cricinfo is becoming a joke.

Agree.

I no longer read any Cricinfo article. Just check scores.

 

[moghul]

Its fully dedicated to IPL, nothing else worth mentioning for CRINFO

 

[Hitman]

I remember Pakistani fans on PP had a problem with Cricinfo even before IPL's inception i.e 2008. Back then they had a problem with the plaudits that Sachin Tendulkar received, and because Cricinfo included him in their All Time Test XI, and not Imran Khan. I'm pretty sure Cricinfo will become extremely attractive if it centres around Pakistan cricket and starts covering India like it does Sri Lanka currently.​

 

[adi_62941]

Its a shame that they are so biased towards Pakistan. There app does not show PSL in current cricket category. And i have to search in the upper main tabs in order to find live score which they list at the very end even if the match is live.