The cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging service Telegram has fuelled the growth of piracy in India manifold in the recent years. According to a 2020 report by Markscan, Telegram saw piracy on its platform jump a staggering 1092% or about 11 times during lockdown. Channels- a form of one-way messaging where admins are able to post messages, share videos, other content for broadcasting were introduced by Telegram in 2015. The Telegram channels are widely used by users to watch pirated copies of the latest movies, web series, shows, and more.
The 15th season of Indian Premier League began on March 26 and Telegram has turned into a brooding ground for illegal feeds of IPL live streaming. There are over one thousand Telegram Group and Channel links available related to IPL 2022, most of them live stream and provide live updates of the ongoing matches. Apart from that betting on toss prediction, betting on the winners of everyday matches is also active on these Telegram groups.
The match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals on 29th March 2022 was live streamed on a Telegram channel named Tamil Mob. Apart from the live streaming of IPL matches, the channel also provides pirated movie content.
Another Telegram group named Live cricket match 2021 provides live links daily before a few minutes of match beginning time. The team at Medianews4u were able to watch the streaming of the live IPL match using the link provided by the admins of the channels during the verification process.
