- ✓In Ireland, Sky Sports is the home of the IPL and every major ICC tournament — stream it through NOW without a dish or a contract.
- ✓Cricket Ireland’s own home internationals are often free to watch on the Cricket Ireland YouTube channel.
- ✓For the Indian feed — JioHotstar — you need an Indian IP from a VPN plus a JioHotstar account; the IPL is no longer free even in India.
- ✓Post-2022, VPN “India” servers are virtual (run from Singapore or the UK). That’s normal and safe — but worth knowing.
- ✓A VPN reaches a service you’re entitled to or already pay for. It isn’t a free-cricket shortcut, and we won’t pretend it is.
The quick answer
In Ireland, the home of cricket is Sky Sports — it holds the rights to the IPL, the WPL and every major ICC tournament in the UK and Ireland, and you can stream it through a NOW membership without a dish or a long contract. On top of that, Cricket Ireland streams many of its own home internationals free on YouTube. The one thing a VPN genuinely unlocks is the Indian JioHotstar feed — the “home” broadcast with Hindi and regional commentary — by giving you an Indian IP.
Sky via NOW for the English coverage · Cricket Ireland’s YouTube for free Irish games · a VPN set to India for the JioHotstar feed.
Where cricket is on in Ireland
Ireland is better served than most fans realise. Here’s the full picture:
- Sky Sports (pay) — the main home. The IPL, the WPL and all major ICC events (World Cups, the Champions Trophy, the World Test Championship final) run through to 2031 on Sky. Stream it via a NOW Sports membership — a day pass or a monthly plan — with no satellite dish needed.
- Cricket Ireland (free) — the Irish games. Cricket Ireland streams many of its home internationals free on the Cricket Ireland YouTube channel, and RTÉ Sport carries some Irish matches too.
- TNT Sports (pay) — selected series. Some bilateral series involving Ireland or other nations sit with TNT Sports, available in Ireland via a NOW Sports Extra add-on.
- JioHotstar (India only) — the diaspora feed. The Indian broadcast of the IPL and India’s matches lives on JioHotstar, which is geo-locked to India — this is where a VPN comes in.
The diaspora route: JioHotstar with a VPN
For the tens of thousands of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi people living in Ireland, the Sky feed isn’t always the one you want — you want the JioHotstar coverage you grew up with. JioHotstar geo-locks its streams to India, so from Ireland you need two things: an Indian IP address (that’s the VPN) and a JioHotstar account with a plan.
Two honest points before you start. First, the IPL is no longer free even in India — the free JioCinema model ended before IPL 2025, so you’ll need a paid JioHotstar plan (they start around ₹79/month for mobile). Second, since India’s 2022 data law, the “India” servers offered by the big VPNs are virtual — physically located in Singapore or the UK but handing you an Indian IP. That’s completely standard now and works exactly the same for streaming.
The honest bit
We won’t oversell what a VPN does. It gives you an Indian IP so you can reach the JioHotstar feed you’ve subscribed to, or lets you log in to a NOW/Sky account you already pay for when you’re travelling outside Ireland. What it can’t do is magic up free cricket — every route here still involves a legitimate subscription or a free-to-air stream you’re entitled to, like Cricket Ireland’s own YouTube games. A VPN never justifies a pirate stream, and this guide isn’t about those.
How to watch, step by step
This is the JioHotstar (Indian feed) route, where the VPN does the work — about four minutes end to end:
- 1Choose your feed first
Decide what you actually want: the English-language Sky coverage (via NOW in Ireland — no VPN needed) or the Indian JioHotstar feed with Hindi and regional commentary. The VPN steps below are for the JioHotstar route.
- 2Get a VPN with an India server
You need a provider that offers an Indian IP. NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN and CyberGhost all do — see the shortlist below. Since 2022 these are virtual India servers, which work exactly the same for streaming.
- 3Connect to India
Install the app, sign in, and connect to the India location. You now have an Indian IP address, so Indian services treat you as a local viewer.
- 4Open JioHotstar and sign in
Sign in to (or set up) a JioHotstar account and pick a plan — mobile plans start around ₹79/month. Then choose your match and press play.
Which VPNs work
The job is a reliable India server with enough speed for live streaming, plus consistent JioHotstar unblocking. From our testing, NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN and CyberGhost all offer Indian IPs and handle it well. Our top picks:
For the full table and our Irish-line speed tests, see our best VPN for cricket ranking, or our overall best VPN for Ireland ranking.
Devices & match-day tips
- On the big screen: install the VPN app on a Fire TV Stick, Android TV or Apple TV, connect to India (for JioHotstar) or Ireland/UK (for NOW), then open the app.
- Phone-first? Most cricket fans watch on mobile — install the VPN app, connect, then open JioHotstar or NOW. It’s the same two taps.
- Connect early and test the stream before the toss; a big IPL or India game draws heavy traffic.
- Stream buffering or blocked? Switch to another India server and reload — our slow-VPN fix and won’t-connect fix apply here too.