UK free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4 has knocked it for six, after it was confirmed today that the network has won the rights to show the entire India vs England Test cricket series.
This means anyone in the UK will now be able to get a free India vs England live stream and watch cricket online or on TV for every ball of the highly anticipated Test series - one of the cricket events of the year, at least until the Ashes rolls around.
While talks with Indian global rights holder Star Sports had been suggesting such a result for a while, it was always feared that Channel 4 might lose out at the last, if either Sky of BT launched a big money bid for UK exclusivity.
Instead, Channel 4 enjoys non-exclusive UK rights to not only all the India vs England Test action, but the national side's entire tour of the sub-continent, which also includes five T20s and four ODIs.
A key factor in Star Sports' decision is understood to have been wanting to promote cricket to a wider audience again, as the last time Brits were able to watch cricket online for free was back in 2019 for the thrilling World Cup final - and no less than 15.4m people chose to do so.
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Want to watch a free India vs England live stream in the UK? Here's how
The awarding of the India vs England Test cricket series to Channel 4 means that coverage will be available not only on terrestrial UK TV and Freeview, but also be completely free to watch online thanks to the network's All 4 streaming service.
The digital platform of the broadcaster is 100% free to watch and is available on desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, consoles, set-top boxes and streaming sticks, Smart TVs, and more - either by utilising the All 4 website, or by downloading the appropriate app.
Sign-up and registration hassle is kept to a minimum, though note you should possess a valid TV license. Provided you've got one of those up-to-date, though, you're good to go - and it's also home to loads of other great content, not least being the place to watch It's a Sin online, the hit new miniseries from Russell T Davies that's taking the world by storm.
Of course, All 4 is only accessible if you're located in the UK. But Brits temporarily abroad will find that it's possible to watch iPlayer from other countries with the help of one of the best VPNs. Allow us to explain how that works in more detail.
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How to watch India vs England cricket free online from outside the country
If you're a UK resident outside of the country for whatever reason right now, then geo-blocking restrictions will stop you from watching free movies online.
Fortunately, there’s a simple solution in the form of a VPN. It's a piece of software that, once downloaded and installed, lets you temporarily relocate your device's IP address to a country of your choosing - in the case of homesick Brits abroad wanting an All 4 fix, that'd be the UK.
ExpressVPN is our no. 1 rated VPN and the ideal solution for UK residents wanting to watch British streaming services like iPlayer from abroad. It's fast, easy to get up and running (it only takes a couple of minutes), and is compatible with nearly all modern devices including Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Apple TVs, Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Windows and Mac computers, and iOS and Android hardware.
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