How to Watch IPL Live Cricket from Anywhere With a VPN in 2023
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The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place between March 31 and May 28, 2023. For 52 days, cricket fans worldwide will be treated to 70 league matches, including 18 doubleheaders. It will be an action-packed season, and we’ll show you how to watch IPL live cricket from anywhere.
Key Takeaways: How to Watch IPL Live Cricket
- U.S.-based cricket fans can watch IPL live on ESPN Plus or Willow TV, whereas their Indian counterparts can keep up with the league on Viacom18 and JioCinema.
- If you’re traveling abroad, you’ll need a VPN service to access local cricket streaming sites to watch IPL 2023.
- ExpressVPN is the VPN to watch IPL 2023 online from anywhere. NordVPN is a cheaper alternative, but it has no Indian servers. Likewise, Proton VPN doesn’t offer Indian servers, but with unlimited data, it’s arguably the best free VPN for IPL.
Before we get into the details, remember that you’ll need a virtual private network (VPN) to catch the action, particularly if you’re traveling abroad. Beyond that, a VPN will come in handy for U.S. cricket fans looking to access free Indian cricket channels such as JioCinema.
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for IPL matches, but it’s not the only service. We’ll discuss two more VPNs (including a free service) you can use to watch IPL cricket live from anywhere. But first, let’s get into the meat and potatoes of our article.
You can watch IPL 2023 for free on JioCinema, but you’ll need a VPN to access the streaming service outside India.
It depends on your country of residence. In the U.S., you can watch IPL online on ESPN Plus, Willow TV, U.K. (Sky Sports), and India (JioCinema and Viacom18). However, you can access all these streaming services from anywhere with a VPN.
How to Watch IPL Live Cricket Online in the US
Willow TV costs $9.99 monthly, and you only need to subscribe for three months to watch all games. In other words, for less than $30, you can watch all 70 IPL league games, playoffs and the final match. While Willow is dirt cheap, it doesn’t broadcast other sports.
You can get Willow TV through Sling TV. The Sling-Willow TV combination is quite pricey and doesn’t fit the bill if you only want to watch cricket.
ESPN Plus is the best place to watch sports, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey and cricket, to name a few. It’s as affordable as Willow TV, costing $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually. You can also get ESPN Plus via Disney Bundle, which costs $12.99 per month and includes Hulu and Disney Plus content.
Where Can I Watch IPL Games in India?
- Star Sports Select 1 HD
- Star Sports Select 1 SD
- Star Sports 1 HD
- Star Sports 1 Hindi
- Star Sports 1
- Star Sports Kannada
- Star Sports 1
- Star Sports Telugu
- Star Sports 1 HD (Hindi)
- Star Sports Tamil
- Star Sports 3
- Star Sports HD 3 (English)
Cord-cutters have been invited to the IPL party too. JioCinema and Viacom18 have exclusive agreements to livestream the IPL for five years. The good thing is that JioCinema broadcasts the game for free, and that’s music to the ears of cricket fans on a tight budget. You can also livestream IPL 2023 on the YuppTV mobile app.
If you’re outside India and U.S., you can livestream the IPL cricket games on the following services:
Where Can I Watch IPL for Free?
JioCinema is one of the best cricket channels to stream IPL 2023 free. The bad news is that the streaming service is available only to cricket fans in India. The good news is that if you’re an IPL fan outside India, you can access the streaming service using a VPN.
However, you might incur a small cost to get a paid VPN because even the best free VPNs don’t offer Indian servers. Luckily, premium VPNs such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN offer a seven-day free trial on mobile, allowing you to watch IPL live streaming while the trial lasts.
How to Watch IPL Live Cricket With a VPN
Two situations can prompt you to use a VPN to watch IPL matches. One, if you have a subscription to a U.S. or local streaming service and are traveling abroad, and two, you want to access JioCinema outside India.
In this section, we’ll use ExpressVPN to show you how to watch IPL 2023 on JioCinema outside India. This procedure will work if you have ESPN Plus or a Willow TV subscription and want to watch IPL outside the U.S.
with servers in India or another country where cricket streams are available.
- Connect the VPN
Connect the VPN to a server in India or other locations with cricket livestreams.
- Livestream IPL 2023 Matches
Before you access the cricket channel, do a DNS leak test to confirm you got an Indian IP address. If everything looks okay, sign in to JioCinema and watch IPL without interruption.
Best VPNs for Streaming IPL Cricket
We’ve shown you the steps; now we focus on the critical “tool of the trade” — the VPN. There are many VPNs, but we settled on three services that stream live sports flawlessly. Let’s discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these services, starting with ExpressVPN — the best VPN for IPL.
Pros:
- Great unblocking ability
- Fast download speeds
- 30-day money-back return
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for watching cricket on channels in India, the U.S. and other countries. The VPN has virtual Indian servers, which work just fine. During our testing, the VPN got us into JioCinema on the first attempt. Based on that performance, ExpressVPN should unblock ESPN, Willow TV and other cricket streaming services without a hitch.
In addition, ExpressVPN’s excellent download speeds don’t dip with increasing distance. This means that whether you’re accessing JioCinema in the U.S. or Australia, you’ll enjoy lag- and buffer-free streaming. Plus, with unlimited data and bandwidth, you don’t have to worry about getting cut off during a nail-biting match.
Price is ExpressVPN’s only downside. The VPN service is comparatively pricey, but its features justify the price tag. Learn more in our comprehensive ExpressVPN review.
ExpressVPN Plans
- Unlimited GB
- 5
- Yes
Pros:
- Fast connection speeds
- Unlimited data & bandwidth
- 30-day money-back return
Cons:
- Had a server breach in 2018
NordVPN closed its Indian servers following the implementation of India’s VPN data law. Unlike ExpressVPN, the VPN service hasn’t created virtual Indian servers, meaning you can’t use it to access JioCinema. However, if you need a cheaper ExpressVPN alternative to access ESPN or Willow TV from abroad, NordVPN is a safe bet.
It doesn’t rival ExpressVPN’s unblocking ability, but that doesn’t mean it’s a fly-by-night service. On the contrary, NordVPN unblocked all the streaming services we threw at it (except BBC iPlayer). If the results are anything to go by, you should not experience problems when streaming IPL on ESPN and Willow TV.
NordVPN is cheaper than ExpressVPN and offers unlimited bandwidth and data. Learn more in our full NordVPN review.
Pros:
- Free U.S. servers
- Unlimited data on free plan
- Top-notch security & privacy
Cons:
- Slow during peak hours
Like NordVPN, Proton VPN doesn’t offer Indian servers, but it’s still on our list for various reasons. First and foremost, it’s the best free VPN with servers in the U.S. During our testing, the servers unblocked popular streaming services, so Willow TV and ESPN Plus shouldn’t be hard nuts to crack.
Proton VPN’s unlimited data is another huge plus. It means you can stream IPL cricket all month and worry less about getting cut off in the middle of a game. Sadly, as a free VPN, Proton VPN has limitations. For example, its speed might take a dip during peak hours, resulting in annoying lags and buffering. Learn more in our Proton VPN review.
Which Teams Will Play in the 2023 IPL?
A total of 10 franchises will participate in this year’s IPL league. The teams are split into two virtual groups as follows:
According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, this year’s tournament is back to the traditional home-and-away format, albeit with a minor tweak. Each team will play opponents in their group once and those in the other group twice. That means each team will play 14 games across 12 stadiums, namely:
- Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- Assam Cricket Association Stadium, Guwahati
- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
- M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
- Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala
- Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
- Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
- Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
- Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium, Mohali
- Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Final Thoughts
You now know where to watch IPL 2023 in the U.S., U.K., India and other countries worldwide. The good thing is that VPN technology expands your options, so you don’t have to restrict yourself to local streaming services.
For example, if you’re in the U.S. and don’t want to spend on an ESPN Plus or Willow TV subscription, you can use a VPN to watch cricket on JioCinema for free. ExpressVPN is the best VPN to livestream Tata IPL 2023 matches from anywhere, thanks to its all-around performance.
Have you watched Indian Premier League cricket outside India? Which streaming services did you use? Did you need a VPN to unblock the streaming service? Which VPN services did you use? We’d like to hear about it in the comment section. As always, thanks for reading.
