*This is a Wisden India article under my byline* Even though whispers of cricket fatigue accompany it occasionally, the Indian Premier League is like the deity that has a prominent spot in the average Indian household, and, in a reflection of that status, it is also biggest entity on Twitter in India for its annual seven-week period of existence. By way of the match hashtag, almost every IPL match, it appears, achieves the top spot on Indian Twitter trends. Players that excel for their sides, regardless of whether or not they are present on Twitter, break into the top 10 trending topics for a while as well. This isn’t surprising to Aneesh Madani, head of sports partnership at Twitter India. And it’s a no-brainer once you realise that the sheer number of active Indian tweeters that identify as cricket fans is a massive one. “Nine out of ten Twitter users in India are cricket fans, and 75% of these cricket fans are below the age of 34, which is reflective of the user base being a very youthful audience. One sport having that kind of fan following on the platform in one country is unheard of,” he says. There are additional numbers to think about. Over the last three years, the IPL Twitter handle has experienced a growth of about 300% in terms of follower count, comfortably topping other major sporting leagues in that regard. For perspective, the UEFA Champions League — a global tournament — comes in at No. 2 with a growth of 239% in the same period. [Source: Twitter India] It is prudent to note that in roughly the same period, the rise in overall Internet users in India has been just over 98%, according to internetlivestats.com. The IPL had a relatively modest near-million followers in 2014, but that number has swollen exponentially to well over four million followers by 2016. And that drastic rise has been driven by innovations by the social media wing of the IPL and those of the franchises. For instance, it was the IPL, during its 2013 edition, that became the first major sporting league to use the Twitter Mirror, featuring MS Dhoni. But the erosion of its novelty value renders the mirror as a less effective as a driving force now. Instead, as the IPL realises the need for new things to make for a better experience on Twitter, they have increased the number of tweeted videos. “Particular to this year, the theme is that of videos, with IPL having published 32 times more videos than 2015 and video views growing 64 times over 2015 for the league stage. The idea was to make sure that fans were abreast of all the happenings of the IPL,” says Madani. “The Twitter platform has evolved in the last few years, from text to images to videos, and the IPL has made it a point to keep in sync with these progressions.” For instance, Suresh Raina’s blinder at first slip to remove Suryakumar Yadav off Dwayne Smith’s bowling back on May 8 at Eden Gardens had everyone gaping. The IPL Twitter handle was prompt in making the video clip available minutes after the occurrence of the same. There’s more. “A lot of the success can be attributed to how the IPL has integrated Twitter into the live TV experience. So when one has tuned into live IPL action on TV, he or she sees calls to actions pertaining to IPL’s Twitter account. This goes a long way in driving fans to stay connected to the IPL on Twitter,” says Madani. Of course, a lot of social media momentum ultimately boils down to on-field happenings. And this season, if there’s one player who has captured the imagination like no other, it is Virat Kohli. Little surprise then that five most popular IPL-centric tweets this season have revolved around Kohli courtesy his four centuries. There is, however, room for improvement and even greater growth. “One cue that IPL teams can take from Major League Baseball (MLB), for instance, is that MLB teams have been very successful with using Periscope to live stream events not typically covered in traditional broadcast, such as team practice sessions and behind the scenes happenings. Periscope facilitates the building of a more intimate relation with the fans on Twitter,” points out Madani. Now, at the start of the ongoing season, possibly because of the World Twenty20 that preceded it, there were reports of a dip in TV numbers at the IPL. But Madani is dismissive of the suggestions. “How the property has done over a period of time is key, because dips and rises over seasons are inevitable. But, look at it from the long-term lens and the property is excelling. The 300% growth is testimony to this success,” he says. According to the official IPL website, the property has attracted more than ten million tweets for this edition (as on May 24). One can expect this number to rise further with the playoffs upon us. The IPL is in its ninth season and Twitter has turned ten. At some level, they are joined at the hip in the Indian context, and the success of one reflects on the other. From the looks of it, things should remain much the same for a while to come.

IPL and Twitter: Growing fast, growing together

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