Did you swear off watching cricket at some point during the World Cup 2015 but were still up at 3am to witness four Pakistani batsmen slumping for just one single run on the board?

Are you still supporting the greens in the hope that they will pull off another March 1992?

Would you rather not step away from your TV screen on Sunday, 1 March, 2015?

More importantly, will you be on the move for any of the upcoming Pakistan matches?

If all your answers to the above questions were in the affirmative then, it is for you that I have decided to review various live World Cup match streaming and scorecard applications available on the market, and point out how they can be accessed. The list is as follows:

Streaming Applications:

Mobilink TV

Of the various applications available from different mobile network operators, this is perhaps the best, owing to the options it provides. It has more than just the sports channels to offer, and is targeted towards the general streaming enthusiasts rather than just cricket fans.

However, the application is limited to the Mobilink users only, and you cannot use WIFI to access the application. The package costs ten rupees per day (1 GB data limit) for prepaid users. The price is relatively higher than the competitors, but I feel that is justified due to the higher number of channels on offer.

The colours used in the application seem out of a shoddy restaurant adorned for Valentine celebrations, but then those are the general colours of Mobilink. The downside of the application, besides the limitation of it's access to Mobilink network alone, is the occasional faulty streaming, perhaps because of the varying strength of the 3G network itself.

Positive: More channels and user-friendly interface.

Negative: The higher price and the fact that it is available only for Android users.

Mobilink TV: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spbtv.mobilink&hl=en

Ufone Media Station

Ufone Media Station is a close second in the novelty and interface for any of the live streaming applications being provided by mobile network operators. However, this one comes with major execution issues.

It worked fine for me, but a good number of reviewers on the Google Play store were unable to use this application, despite using the SIM from the same network.

The good thing about this application is that it offers 20 plus channels, but like Mobilink, it is not targeted towards the cricket enthusiasts alone. But unlike Mobilink application, you can subscribe to the WIFI package for two hundred rupees and thus run the application free of the worries associated with varying 3G strength.

The application does not come with any specific package of its own, so if you intend on running it on mobile network, be prepared to see some exorbitant bills.

Positive: WIFI subscription available. A vast variety of channels.

Negative: No specific package available for the mobile users who may want to stream online on network-provided internet. Also, it is not available on Apple.

Ufone Media Station: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ufone.mediastation&hl=en

Telenor Cricket

Telenor lags behind the rest of the operators, despite being at the top for the number of 3G users (2.7 million). Their app does not provide live streaming; there is just the scorecard and commentary, for which there are other, much better applications available.

Alternatively, if you are a Telenor user, and want to use the network-provided streaming, you can do that by accessing the telenorlive.com link on the browser. This would cost comparatively a quarter of the price for Mobilink operators, at 6.5 rupees per 2GB data used.

Positive: Cheaper (to access using the browser), although the application itself is pretty much useless. The browser access can be used by Apple users as well.

Negative: No streaming.

Telenor Cricket: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.telenor.cricket&hl=en

Warid Sports and Zong CricMania

The trophy for laziness goes to Zong and Warid jointly. The official application provided by each network is an exact replica of the PTV sports cricket station application (discussed later), the only thing distinguishing them from the PTV sports cricket station app being that they are both limited to their own subscribers alone.

Even so, it’d be pointless to download either, instead of the official PTV app, since this would only restrict your WIFI access without giving anything worthy in return (except Javed Miandad popping up on the screen less often with his irritating ‘Jb Peeteecl PTCL ad phree world cup (gasps) dikae ga (gasps) tau kon koosh nai hoga’.

The quality of stream on these network applications is relatively better than the official PTV app, but it would cost you a leg and an arm to run it on these networks without WIFI access.

Zong offers non-streaming access to the application on WIFI, Warid does not.

The developer for the Zong application is the same as the PTV app, whereas the Warid application is uploaded from the Warid official account on Google Play. Both are powered by PTV sports.

Positive: Targeting cricket enthusiasts, so provides live streaming as well as the scorecard besides highlights of different cricket games.

Negative: You are much better off downloading the official PTV application instead, since that would provide WIFI access.

Zong: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rockvilletech.cricae.ptvsports.zong4g&hl=en

Alternatively, Zong subscribers can access about 30 channels using their cellphone browsers – like the Telenor subscribers – though no particular package is available for the users. The link is here.

Warid: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rockvilletech.cricae.ptvsports.warid&hl=en

PTV Sports Cricket Station

Of the various applications available free of cost, without discrimination to any network, PTV sports cricket station offers the most, and yet fails to deliver where it is most required.

The application can be accessed using both mobile data or WIFI, has a live scorecard and news page, and – despite its hideous graphics and tripartite colour display – allows handy access to fixtures, results and the group standings of various teams.

The biggest failure of this application is that the video streaming it supports is patchy at best. It suddenly stops at the most critical moments, and the video quality is never really good. The scorecard displayed is too small, and even for the largest cell phone screen, would require squinting to read the ‘overs bowled’ in the video.

Positive: Targets cricket enthusiasts and has more to offer besides live streaming. WIFI access free of cost.

Negative: Fails to provide quality streaming.

PTV Sports Cricket Station: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rockvilletech.cricae.ptvsports&hl=en

PTCL SMART TV (Official)

This is without a shadow of doubt the best streaming application available on Android cell phones, but at the same time costs the most. The application provides in excess of 150 channels, with cricket streaming free of ads. Another aspect that makes it standout from others is the ability to rewind up to five hours, so even if you missed any critical moments, you could go back and live those moments later.

The application can be accessed using both WIFI and 3G/4G networks and proves seamless streaming. PTCL has been in the business of providing internet streaming for some time now, so they could have been expected to provide the best experience, and in all honesty they don’t disappoint in that sphere.

The bad thing about the app is that it will cost you Rs500 just to buy the subscription to the application. Any data used to access the application will cost separately, and so unless you intend on using it on WIFI, it is probably not worth the money.

Another problem I faced was that the staff at their helpline were not really much help. Should you face any technical issue, they will sound friendly and try to be of help, but you will probably be more informed than them.

Positive: Ad-free streaming, the most number of channels, good quality videos, ability to rewind the stream by up to five hours.

Negative: Too costly. Customer care staff not very informed.

PTCL SMART TV: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zte.iptvclient.android.ptclsmarttv&hl=en

Ten sports

The best of the applications available free of cost, and targeted solely towards live stream, is the one being offered by Ten Sports. The application has too minimalistic an approach for its own good, but even where there is more than one cricket game being played at the same time, it allows you to watch either on the two variant channels available.

The application is not restricted to Android alone, and so Apple users can download it as well. It comes free of cost, has a two-hour rewind time and provides video quality at par with the PTCL application.

The downside of this application is its failure to serve any other purpose besides live stream, so don’t expect many options, scorecard, or even a clever interface.

Personally, I would recommend this the most, if you are just interested in watching the game live and are not too bothered about the TV ads, especially since it costs nothing when accessed using WIFI.

Positive: High quality streaming, free of cost, two hours rewind option, and multiple platforms.

Negative: Too drab an interface, with very few settings tweaks, and literally no other options, as well as too many ads (that come standard with watching the game on Ten Sports even on cable TV).

Ten Sports (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zee.tensports&hl=en

Ten Sports (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/pk/app/ten-sports/id965361442?mt=8

Scorecard Applications:

If, on the other hand, you intend on just staying up dated on the score, and wouldn’t mind missing a little action here and there, you can use the applications that are solely catering to that market. Three of my picks in these categories are as under:

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

This official application from the international cricket council provides scorecard, video highlights, pictures, hawk eye access, team standings in the group and the news widgets. The application is solely geared towards providing a good experience for the World Cup, and is interactive in that you can be a part of the polls conducted on a daily basis, results of which are from time to time displayed on television screens as well.

ICC CWC 2015 (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pl.cwc_2015&hl=en

ICC CWC 2015 (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/id956440606?mt=8

ESPNCricinfo Cricket App

Where the official ICC app lags, the ESPN application more than makes up for it. This app provides access to all sorts of information including scorecard; live commentary; graphs of all kind; match summary; news and blogs; team standings; detailed player information; photos from the matches; video highlights; rankings; and the best of all, variant size home screen widgets that you can tweak to your liking, so you won’t have to open the application every time you check up on the score.

Also, it can provide notifications for any fall of wicket or milestone etc. within the game, if so enabled in the settings.

This is the best application in this category, and is a must try.

ESPNCricinfo (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.july.cricinfo&hl=en

ESPNCricinfo (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/pk/app/espncricinfo-cricket/id417408017?mt=8

Cricly – Cricket Lockscreen

The consolation prize, if any, shall go to an app developed by a Pakistani entrepreneur Jawwad Jafri; for a novel idea, albeit one whose execution leaves a lot to be desired.

The application has virtually no setting options except activation and deactivation, but does exactly what the title suggests – it makes a very detailed scorecard your lock screen, so, you won’t have to unlock your cell phone every time you feel like taking a peek at the score, be it while driving or in the middle of a meeting.

The application does not run very smooth though, and could make do with loading a little quicker.

Cricly (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cricly