People in India carry an unparalleled passion for cricket, with every match or tournament bringing cricket fans together as if in festive celebration – and like every other major event in the world, this happens on Twitter!
That is simply why, as the Indian Women’s Cricket Team (@BCCIWomen) prepare to play their first-ever day-night test against Australia, cricket fans on Twitter haven’t been shy about their excitement. Cricket enthusiasts have been looking forward to the Test that starts on the 30th of September, and Twitter is, once again, echoing the roar of the stadium.
To support the soaring fan conversations around the Pink Ball Test – only the second in Women’s cricket history – Twitter has introduced a dedicated #PinkBallTest emoji. The emoji, a pink coloured ball, can be activated by Tweeting with hashtags like #PinkBallTest, #AUSvIND in several Indian languages – #पिंकबॉलटेस्ट (Hindi), #ਪਿੰਕਬਾੱਲਟੈਸਟ (Punjabi), #પિંકબોલટેસ્ટ (Gujarati), #পিঙ্কবলটেস্ট (Bengali), #ଗୋଲାପୀବଲଟେଷ୍ଟ (Odia), #பிங்க்பால்டெஸ்ட் (Tamil), #పింక్ బాల్ టెస్ట్ (Telugu), #ಪಿಂಕ್ ಬಾಲ್ ಟೆಸ್ಟ್ (Kannada), #പിങ്ക്ബോൾടെസ്റ്റ് (Malayalam), #पिंकबॉलटेस्ट (Marathi) and #پنکبولٹیسٹ (Urdu).
Priya Nixon, who leads sports content partnerships for Twitter in India, said, “Cricket is a massive conversation on Twitter and we recognise that fans look at it as a second-screen experience. To make fans’ experiences even grander especially around key cricket matches, and the #PinkBallTest is undoubtedly a major moment for Indian Women’s cricket, we have some exciting plans in the pipeline, including the #PinkBallTest emoji. We hope they enjoy using it.”
Owing to the popularity of cricket in India, Twitter has recently launched the #CricketTwitter campaign – an extravaganza for fans of the sport that will serve them exclusive content and exciting experiences from their favourite cricketers #OnlyOnTwitter.
For the #PinkBallTest, Twitter will also be introducing a dedicated Events Page where fans can follow the latest Tweets from athletes, experts and cricket authorities for the latest on what’s happening on and off the field in Australia. Moreover, people can also follow several Twitter Topics to stay tuned into the women’s cricket conversation on Twitter. Topics use machine learning to deliver interest-related Tweets to people’s timelines. Indian Women’s National Cricket Team, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma are some of the Topics that fans can follow around women’s cricket.
