In a First, Indian Cricketers Tweet Fixtures of New Zealand Series

Never before a BCCI announcement about the itinerary of a home series has followed Indian cricketers tweeting about it, and when the board's official press release includes those tweets, it comes out to be an apparent marketing strategy.

The Indian board on Tuesday revealed the fixtures and venues of New Zealand's tour of India, where the two teams will play three Tests and a five-match ODI series starting September 22.

The tour will kick off with the opening Test in Indore, which will be the first for the venue in Madhya Pradesh.

Interestingly, soon after the BCCI revealed the itinerary, it sent out a mail embedded with tweets from Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin and also the newly-appointed coach Anil Kumble.

And introducing those tweets in the press release was this statement: "Additionally, the schedule was announced by Team India members on Twitter."

That made it an obvious marketing push, especially when you recall that the BCCI, at its first annual conclave recently, has earmarked a separate marketing budget to popularise Test cricket and bring more and more people to the stadiums.

And when you are a BCCI-contracted employee, or a player, you have to be part of that strategy.