Metasports Appoints Ex-Dream11 Veteran to Head Marketing for Hitwicket

Metasports, the company behind India's most acclaimed strategy cricket game Hitwicket, has appointed Manoj Kadarla as its new Head of Marketing — and the hire signals serious intent. Kadarla spent…

By Hardik Dhamija

March 30, 2026

3 min read

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Metasports, the company behind India’s most acclaimed strategy cricket game Hitwicket, has appointed Manoj Kadarla as its new Head of Marketing — and the hire signals serious intent. Kadarla spent eight years at Dream11 as part of its core growth team during the platform’s most explosive phase, helping scale it from a niche fantasy sports app to a 270-million user juggernaut while managing multi-million dollar digital ad spends and driving 30x revenue growth.

Why This Appointment Matters

Metasports is at an inflection point. Hitwicket has already grown to over 18 million players across 109 countries, holds a 4.6 rating on the App Store and 4.5 on Play Store, and carries the rare distinction of being named India’s #1 game by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and personally showcased to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The platform needed a marketing leader who has actually operated at scale, not just theorised about it.

Key Fact	Detail
New Role	Head of Marketing, Metasports
Previous	8 years at Dream11, core growth team
Dream11 Impact	Scaled to 270M users, 30× revenue growth
Education	NIT Rourkela alumnus
Hitwicket Players	18M+ across 109 countries
App Ratings	4.6 App Store / 4.5 Play Store
Funding Raised	~$7M Series A (Prime Venture Partners + Horizon Ventures)

In his new role, Kadarla will own user acquisition, brand, partnerships, and social across Metasports’ current and upcoming game portfolio, while building a scalable marketing engine in close collaboration with product, design, and data teams.

Hitwicket’s Differentiated Position in Indian Gaming

What makes this appointment particularly interesting is the type of game Hitwicket is. Unlike the casual, quick-session games that dominate India’s mobile gaming charts, Hitwicket is a depth-led, skill-first strategy experience where players manage their own virtual cricket franchise as owner, coach, and captain.

Its community spans ages 10 to 50 with 19% women players — a remarkably inclusive demographic for a cricket game. That kind of retention-first, community-driven product needs a very different marketing philosophy from what drives casual game downloads, and Kadarla’s data-driven, long-term growth background at Dream11 maps well onto exactly that challenge.

With global expansion firmly in sight, this hire is Metasports putting the right infrastructure in place before its next push. For more on India’s gaming industry, visit TechnoSports.