Daijiworld Media Network - Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Nov 4: Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has acquired a significant minority stake in Hyderabad-based gaming startup Metasports Interactive, the developer of popular mobile cricket strategy game Hitwicket. Besides investing in the company, Tendulkar will actively contribute to the game's development by sharing insights from his illustrious cricketing career to make the gaming experience more realistic and engaging.
The association, which began with discussions about a possible collaboration around six months ago, eventually led Tendulkar to become an investor in the startup. The financial details of his investment and the company's valuation have not been disclosed.
Metasports Interactive co-founder and CEO Kashyap Reddy said Tendulkar's involvement would go beyond being a brand ambassador or a playable character in the game. His understanding of cricketing strategies, field placements and match situations is expected to help developers incorporate finer aspects of the sport into the gaming experience.
Reddy said the company wanted to capture the thinking process of an accomplished cricketer and translate it into gameplay. This includes understanding technical details such as how grass growing in a particular direction on the field could influence the friction and movement of the ball.
Tendulkar said he was impressed by the way Hitwicket incorporates the strategic dimensions of cricket rather than concentrating solely on reflexes and batting skills.
According to the former India captain, cricket involves constantly reading the bowler, assessing field placements and deciding the appropriate approach for every delivery. He believes the game successfully recreates this decision-making process, allowing players to experience how a cricketer thinks while batting in the middle.
Tendulkar will also feature as a playable character in Hitwicket and appear in various in-game experiences, special events, content initiatives and brand activations. The company is exploring ways to make his involvement more meaningful than simply introducing his digital likeness into the game.
One possibility being considered is featuring Tendulkar as a team mentor or strategist, alongside his role as a playable character. Developers are also exploring different stages of his 24-year international career to reflect his evolution as a cricketer within the game, from an aggressive young batsman to a more experienced player who adapted his approach with time.
Metasports is drawing inspiration from Japanese role-playing games to develop different character experiences and keep gameplay engaging. The objective is to offer players opportunities to experience different versions of Tendulkar's cricketing journey.
Hitwicket targets 100 million downloads
Founded in 2020 by Kashyap Reddy and Keerti Singh, Metasports Interactive has built a user base of more than 20 million across over 120 countries through Hitwicket.
The game primarily generates revenue through in-app purchases. According to Reddy, users spend an average of 52 minutes playing the game daily, while paying users spend approximately 90 minutes.
India accounts for nearly half of the game's revenue, while the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia are its largest overseas markets.
The startup is backed by venture capital firms Prime Venture Partners and Singapore-based Horizon Ventures, along with cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, who is also associated with the company.
In April 2026, Metasports secured $20 million in user acquisition funding from London-based growth financing company Metica. The funding is intended to support marketing, customer acquisition and international expansion.
With Tendulkar joining as an investor and strategic partner, the company is targeting 100 million downloads over the next three years.
Hitwicket operates in an increasingly competitive mobile cricket gaming market, which includes Dream Cricket from Dream Sports, Real Cricket from Nautilus Mobile, owned by Krafton, and World Cricket Championship from Nazara Technologies-owned Nextwave Multimedia. Bengaluru-based LightFury Games has also entered the market with its big-budget cricket title eCricket, which recently entered closed beta testing.
Eyes expansion beyond cricket
Metasports Interactive is also looking beyond cricket as it plans to develop games based on multiple sports and establish itself as a major global mobile sports gaming company.
Reddy said the company's broader ambition was to build the equivalent of EA Sports for mobile gaming rather than remain limited to cricket.
The company believes that its experience in developing Hitwicket, particularly in multiplayer gameplay and matchmaking, can be applied to other sporting disciplines. It sees an opportunity to improve the multiplayer experience in mobile sports games, which are often heavily focused on simulation.
According to Reddy, the company expects to begin beta testing its next sports game within six months.
Artificial intelligence is also playing an increasingly important role in its expansion plans. The technology has significantly accelerated game production and reduced the resources required to develop multiple gaming titles.
Reddy said AI had made it possible for a relatively smaller company to pursue ambitions that previously required a much larger development organisation. However, he stressed that technology could accelerate development only when developers had a clear understanding of their objectives.
The investment by Tendulkar marks an important step in Metasports' efforts to strengthen its position in the global gaming industry, with the company aiming to transform its successful cricket gaming platform into a wider mobile sports entertainment business.