How has it come to this? How can there be a Test series being played that features the Indian team with no television coverage and no radio commentary? You might say that a contest with Bangladesh is unlikely to make pulses race, but you'd be wrong. Bangladesh helped boot India out of the World Cup, they nearly got the better of a Test match against a full-strength Australian touring side recently, so they're worthy opponents. I think there's a substantial audience for Indo-Bangla Test cricket; not as large as the audience for one-day cricket, of course, but large enough.

What's happening here is that Doordarshan isn't willing to settle for the modest profits that a low-profile Test series with Bangladesh might have brought in. It telecast the one-day matches because the ad revenues are higher for those, but refused to agree terms with Nimbus (which has bought the television rights from the Bangladesh Board) for the Test series. Amazingly Doordarshan was telecasting the one-day series being played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the same time as it was conspicuously not doing live coverage of the Indian Test match. This wouldn't be amazing if Doordarshan was a private television station. ESPN/Star as private channels are responsible to their shareholders. If they find that there's more money to be made telecasting ODIs played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan than Test matches featuring India, that's their business.

But Doordarshan, as it never tires of telling us when it suits its purpose, is the 'national broadcaster'. It's paid for by the tax-payer's money. It's happy to use its special relationship with the state to strong-arm other television channels into sharing the cricket that it wants to telecast. When the BCCI sells the rights to international matches played in India, it makes it clear to the purchaser that the live feed and the revenues accruing from the telecast will have to be shared with Doordarshan. So private broadcasters pay vast sums of money for television rights and when Doordarshan thinks there's enough money to be made, it piggy-backs on them to get its snout into the trough.

Now I happen to think that the fan's urge to watch cricket matches live and for free doesn't amount to a fundamental right. I'm devoted to cricket and I think anything that helps reach the game to Indian fans is a good thing, but that doesn't mean that free-to-air telecasts of live cricket on state television should be mandatory. Cricket for its audiences is a form of entertainment: covering it doesn't qualify as public-service broadcasting. There's no large public good being served here: telecast cricket is a commodity and there's no reason for the state to intervene to make sure that it's available for free. If Doordarshan wants to subsidize its consumption by the general public, it should be willing to buy the rights or pay top dollar for sharing the feed.

But Doordarshan, supported by the Indian state, argues that telecasting international cricket featuring India is a form of public service broadcasting. The only justification for its claim that it has a mandatory right to 'share' live pictures is its invocation of the Indian poor who love the game but can't afford to watch it on cable. Given the fact that more and more people receive Doordarshan not directly through their aerials but via cable this isn't, even on its own terms, a watertight argument. But let us, for the sake of argument, allow that Doordarshan has a legitimate case, that DD National is a unique vehicle for carrying the exploits of the Indian cricket team to the plebeian fan. In which case, how is this purpose served by covering Sri Lanka's matches with Pakistan when India is playing Bangladesh?

If the 'public good', defined as the Indian fan's right to watch his heroes play, trumps private profit when it comes to the World Cup or a Test series between India and Australia played in India, how come this logic doesn't apply to the India-Bangladesh series? By Doordarshan's own logic its willingness to telecast ODIs featuring two foreign nations while ignoring India's champions as they labour in the heat of Chittagong, besides being inconsistent, amounts to a kind of treachery. If DD's invocation of the straitened Indian fan helps it muscle its way into vast revenues, surely it should use those revenues to subsidize the telecast of series that might be less profitable. If it doesn't (as it hasn't with the Bangladesh series) it should forfeit its right to share telecast rights to matches featuring India that have been bought at huge cost by others.

Doordarshan's greed and callousness apart, the blackout of the Bangladesh Tests is a symptom not so much of Test cricket's decline in the sub-continent as the BCCI's deliberate orphaning of Test cricket. The Board's greed for ODI revenues has led to the overloading of the Indian team's calendar with standalone ODI contests. This has gone hand-in-hand with the Board's unwillingness to build a cricket season around a major Test series (as the Australian Board has done with its end-of-year Test matches), its failure to make tickets for Test matches available in advance and the failure of provincial boards to build decent facilities in their stadiums. Stadiums like Chepauk and Mohali that have attended to these things have large Test match attendances. Television revenues from ODIs have so debauched the BCCI and the its affiliated boards that they have no interest in the hard work necessary to keep Test cricket viable and popular in the modern media marketplace. Despite the amount the amount of Test cricket played the world over, between the BCCI and Doordarshan it won't be long before live Test cricket on Indian television becomes an occasional treat, not a constant pleasure.

This post is adapted from an article that appeared in The Telegraph, Kolkata, which can be read here.

Mukul Kesavan is bang on! DD makes us believe it is there for the "common man", whereas in fact it is not far behind the other commercial channels in looking for an opportunity of making profits at the expense of a poor viewer, located possibly in the interiors of India, who doesn't have access to any other tv channel than DD. DD Sports is also a joke, in that the match referred in the blog - SL V Pak -- only the first one was shown and the next two weren't .. no explanations, nothing! Even the live matches are shown on National network, and not DD sports - a dedicated (!?) sports channel!! Less said the better!

People like us, who actually enjoy watching real cricket, test cricket, are left with empty hands while our players are playing in the neighbouring country. I find it rediculous that Nimbus has actuall been in fight with everyone in India, and only some cities are actually watching the cricket on TV. If they claim its home of indian cricket on TV, then I would disagree with this fact as Indian cricket is not only defined by the players playing the game and game as it is, but it also comprise the fans watching these matches. This is a simple fact that Nimbus refused to accept and has indulged into fighting with other distributors. I am just sad and watching the live scores on cricinfo and watching bits and pieces on the news channel. Where I can see only sachin and ganguly getting out but cant witness their magnificient effort to score a centruy in such a testing times.
Vinay

Mukul Kesavan is absolutely correct. Test Cricket is ignored big time. All through the year when there was no real cricket being telecast on Neo Sports it was relayed by all cable operators and come the time the ODI's and Test Matches came its back to being a pay-channel and no cable operator is willing to telecast it. It is ridiculous that we are able to see cricket being played in England and even in Abu Dhabi but not see our own country play.

The point of Test Matches not being given importance is also a very valid point. For all that BCCI does, its a suffering to go to the grounds and watch cricket. For a ODI one needs to queue 4 hours in advance after paying anything between 20-50$ and in return one gets is broken seats, no basic facilities and if one ever gets up from his seat..its gone !!!
I regularly watch test matches in Mumbai and the stadium is a shame. One cannot sit for 8 hours in those 1/2 benches.
Around the world, the day out at cricket means a picnic, fun day where the kids can enjoy the game and the adults can have some fun. In India, its just torture.

Enough said about grounds, the telecast leaves lot to be desired. 5 ball overs and crap analysis. Except ESPN-Star who are real professionals the other sports channels leave lot to be desired.

Of course, Mr. Lalit Modi would never read this post and if he ever does he would still look at short-changing the paying public and look at where the next million dollar would come in.

Mukul,

Your point is well taken but some part of your article implies as if Tamil is an alien language and there is no proper city other than New Delhi in India. I know you might not have meant that but still it would've been better if you have avoided those illustrations

I think that the cricket matches played where India is involved should be shown on DD National because everyone in India can see it without cable connection. Now, they are telecasting the ODIs and showing the highlights of the Tests. But the Tests can be shown or re-telecast again on DD National. So, this is my comment. Thank you.

Has anyone watched live cricket on TV in India and not felt like throwing up?Not just the incessant ads but puerile commentary followed by mind numbing analysis by 'experts'. Well, count yourself lucky Mr Kesavan that you missed it all...and yes,the college grade cricket.

Maybe DD is implementing a quality control program whereby programs that it launches need to meet a certain standard in which case the Sri Lanka v Pakistan matches would qualify but India v Bangladesh will not. Or maybe even DD is fed up with the poor quality of cricket that it's so called "champions" are offering.

Why not make this into a PIL? The arguments seem convincing enough and DD inevitably screws up every pre-series buildup with their concern for the "common man."

Due to the criticism, the next two matches between Pakistan and Sri Lanka were not telecast. So instead of rectifying its mistake, DD merely compounded it....

Very true.
Culprit 1: BCCI: BCCI's insistence on playing ODIs at every venue imaginable in order to sell TV rights is making me sick. This year we would be playing at Ireland and Scotland!!! What next? Hawaii????
All that the current 'regime' has done is to 'sell' Indian cricket. While selling a brand as lucrative as Indian cricket cannot be bad in itself, one wonders what Indian cricket has gained by all this money. The team is in absolute shambles, domestic cricket not worth a mention, the grounds in India an apology for Cricket stadiums. Watching matches in England I have realised how much the BCCI and the state associations take the paying public for granted in India. This is the result of giving undue authority to over zealous businessmen like Modi. I hope the players take up the issue of too much cricket being played and knock some sense into the powers that be.

Policiticians who should not have any business giving away man of the match awards head the national and state associations! And even have the audacity to lobby for the ICC president post! For the sake of world cricket, I hope Mr.Pawar loses the ICC presidentship election.

It is also high time we have atleast 6 home tests played out and in the Indian Cricket season in good test match venues (no Nagpur and Delhi please)

Culprit2: Doordarshan: Simply put, this is DD's modus operandi of making whatever money it can at the expense of the cricket loving public and the private channels with the moolah. Not Cricket indeed!

So you cannot watch Cricket in Tamil, but you can watch that in Hindi? If Tamil is not suited for you, then Hindi is not suited for me, and seven crore Tamils

I liked this article and DD really has to pull up its socks...sometimes the advertisements come up even before the last ball is bowled and regarding your experience watching Cricket in Tamil,that is exactly how a lot of us (the Non-Hindi speaking citizens of India)feel when the commentary is in Hindi...

Mukul, Sivaramakrishnan,I think the point of the article was about DD and BCCI"S greed and had nothing to do with the Tamil-Hindi debate. and if you guys had bothered to listen to the commentary, you would agree with Mukul.

Let us not divert from the valid issue raised by Mukul regarding the unfortunate situation of million of cricket loving Indians who are unable to watch Indian test matches by bringing in the Tamil issue! I am sure that the point is not whether one can or cannot watch cricket matcehs in Tamil - with due respect to the people and language, the issue is not broadcasting cricket for ALL the Indians!

I generally enjoy your articles, as they concentrate on issues that are not generally taken up. However, at the same time would like your arguments more, if you do a bit more research. I hope am not nitpicking; but the matches were telecast in Andhra Pradesh too -- on Vissa Channel, with Telugu commentary. I don't know if any of the other South Indian channels other than Raj and Vissa broadcasted the match.
A minor point, I agree. But don't you think that when you are writing a serious piece of journalism a bit more research is called for?

Try muting the TV and get twice the atmosphere, twice the noise and twice the commentary on the radio! Works...

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. We are letting scoundrels take us for granted in the name of patriotism. India, please please please Wake up. It's just a bloody sport and we are letting it run our lives and giving it to gluttonous beasts who tell us that it is our patriotic duty to feed their gluttony. For the love of all that you consider holy, please wake up.

Nimbus should share their feed with other private channels for a reasonable fee if DD refuses to telecast. That way the audiences get to watch cricket, the advertisers will buy time anyway and DD ends up with egg on its face. In Europe, for instance, the showpiece Champions League is available throughout the season on Sky, national broadcasters and other private channels as well. All make money and the non-satellite audience catches the action as well.

Man, you are so outdated...you're watching it on TV? Get a broadband connection, and watch it online

For me, the cable operators are the culprits. We pay our fees but they wont telecast the match. They put unnecessary channels. More than that, the Govt. passes a law that the telecast of matches featuring India have to be shared with DD. DD doesnt show the match, instead broadcasts a Pakistan v Sri Lanka match which has no meaning to we Indians. Anyway, half the match was washed out. But Mr.Keshavan, please adjust and be happy that you could view the match even though it was in Tamil. Think of millions who couldnt even see the match even in big cities like Mumbai and New Delhi.

The BCCI should be hauled to court under a PIL (where are all those people who are soooo offended by a Gere-Shilpa Shetty peck on the cheek)for selling rights to the highest bidder irrespective of the bidder's ability to reach the necessary audience....And all the righteous defenders of 'tamil pride',take a hike if you cant understand the meaning behind a simple sentence or stop reading this blog or sit on a hunger strike asking for Kesavan's head.Or file a PIL asking for Kesavan to be jailed.Or ofcourse,you might choose to grow up.

Did anyone hear the argument presented by dd representative , saying that the oneday feed was given to them free of cost and it was not feasible to telecast the test match due to lack of interest from advertisers.HELLLOO-- THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE ADVERTISEMENT IN THE ONEDAY MATCH.HOW COULD THEY AFFORD TO TELECAST IT?

Nice write-up by kesavan. I wish he would write more about 5 ball overs.
Three cheers for sumit desai. his view's are spot-on.

Nice article . To Sumit and the likes , I think the wording were a little offending for me regarding the way the author has put it in connection with Tamil ...the author says he saw the match with Tamil commentary and couldn't understand it . thats fine . but later on he goes on to write & I quote "Once I got home to Delhi, a proper metropolis, the capital of this great republic, normal service would be restored"....normal ??? Now that was a nice dig at Tamil . He could have rather put "Hindi" in the place of "normal" and avoided his sentences from hurting other people .But a good article though

Mukul,

The talk has been talked; will the walk be walked?
You make a lot of sense about this Doordarshan & BCCI high handedness. Could you move some office to present this as a PIL in a court?

I'll sign up for a petition if need be, right now.

Going to a stadium to watch cricket is a pain in India. Watching it live on TV is irritating with all the ads on the screen and between overs.
Best solution: watch cricket on the internet and catch the highlights on TV

Whats wrong with watching cricket in Tamil?
I'm sick of this north vs south thing - And I wonder why you were cheering on Sri Lanka in the world cup.
Is it time that India was split into two?

I am a native from Tamil Nadu, and yet share the misery of the awful,horrible,pitiful,shameful commentary of the cricket test series in Tamil, broadcast by Raj Tv.
It's highly impossible to turn on the sound for more than a few minutes . It would be much better
for one who doesn't understand Tamil, at least they wouldn't figure the shame in it or have to share my miserable plight
God save us all if this keeps up anyway!

It's crazy. Not even so much as international Test matches, but even local matches here in South Africa never get any coverage. We have something silly like 8 or 9 (even more if you count ESPN) dedicated sports channels, where you can view golf, tennis or even off road biking! But alas, no cricket. Even though I don't sit waiting on every ball during most tests (although some I do!) it is always nice to have a good game going on in the background.

This is where commentary is so important. You hear the noise, you hear the players, you hear the crowd and then the words from the commentator. It's then that I get up from my work and head to the TV to see what all the fuss is about.

Okay, so I admit that when it's the Indian team I can't take every appeal seriously. It still makes for great background entertainment. Instead, all I am left with is the repeating pop music of VH1 and MTV.

Cricket makes for such entertainment... when available!

I bet you were visiting Sai Baba in Bangalore and he magically transformed your reality in such a way that you could only watch the dreary old test match in Tamil. This as a punishment for being the sort of person who would watch a dreary old test match when you could have been praying at the Guru's feet. Instead you were praying at the feet of the television and wound up miffed when your counterfeit Guru was harsh and incomprehensible. That is life. You can either learn from it, or become one of those old men whose currency is complaint and negativity. If only you were in tune with your televised Guru you would comprehend all tongues and resist preoccupying yourself with children's games and compose prose superimposed with superlatives for our superheroes (Australia). Dream time is not televised anywhere but behind the eyelids of those whose inner song is for the rainbow serpent. If you can understand that, you're worth of a second read.

I think its a good sign for Indian Productivity. No more waste of time by watching these stupid game. All the best DD and BCCI.. You will make India more productive by killing CRICKET

well ilike to see all these serious alligations aginst tamil telecast of the cricket game which make many indians sad.i dont whats happening to this world or just few ignorants whom complain about a language millians of indians speaking.whats wrong with tamil language telecast which gonna help millians of uneducated tamilnadu people.it means lots to them cause as a ex govt tax officer i know how it is.this is entertainment and this is not part of someonce cuitural or political game show.please doordharshan tv u guys are awesome.

Agreeing with Mukul on everything thats being said. Then again, nobody including Mukul batted an eyelid when DD switches to Hindi every few overs.

You are bang on the target.. Doordarshan is greedy , thats it. It showed the ODIs when it could make money and now the Tests are blacked out. There is no thing as public good or public service, if there was , why would we see 5 ball overs and ads between balls...

The point is well presented. Doordarshan Hai Hai. It is not about Tamil, Hindi or English or any language, it is about cricket. Doordarshan should be forced to explain their stand. What is their philosophy? Do they not want to serve the common man, who lives in far flung places, now?

Well guys nice discussion....but you know i think its better they are not telecasting the match...at least the Indian Team is playing decent crickey - 303 / 0 and the first day isn't over yet!!

The issue is lack of telecast and not about tamil or hindi or english. I live in tamil nadu and understand tamil, but the commentators on raj tv were dull and drab. the artilce is a good one and doordarshan should not only run after profits.

What is the big deal, two club sides are playing, why you want waste your time on that.

hi i am not getting into debates about tamil or hindi stuff. but i really think that u guys should appreciate it that raj tv were the only guys to show the matches live, even if their commentary left a lot to be desired. am sure they will get a lot better with experience. come on guys.. give them a break and appreciate their approach. jus think that this could be a fore runner to watching matches with good native language commentary for all indians. ours will be the only country to have something as innovative as that.

Such a shame that cricet fans have to go through hell and back to watch the sport they love. I'm glad that the mainstream media is bringing this into the forefront.
Here in North America cricket telecasts are run and controlled by unscrupulous businessmen who charge $300 minimum to watch cricket. The sport is taken out of the average household because nobody wants to dish out even $100 when gas prices and cost of living is soaring.

You can be assured that till cricket is telecast free in North America it will never take off in this continent. The ICC should be directly responsible for televesion rights and prevent local entitities monopolising the market.
Saying that the recent world cup clips on YouTube(10 minute clips) were being taken down rapidly by NetResult, im sure the ICC paid a thumping sum for Netresults services.

Many americans who were getting involved in the game were shut out. Many people who have no legal access to cricket, scientist working in the far reaches of Alaska to cricket crazed fans from Iceland wrote into the ICC but nothing has come out of it.

I think some of you are missing the point... by making specific mention in his article, that the telecast was only available in Tamil on Raj TV, Mukul Kesavan does not intend to say anything negative or offensive about either the language or the Tamil people. Kindly stop trying to turn everything into a reason to start a communal arguement. When he says he is unable to watch Tamil commentary, he is not saying anything bad about Tamil, he probably just doesnt understand it! Raj TV is a regional channel, catering to the language of one state. And before you start getting on my case, I am a Tamilian too. DD is a national channel that is supposed to cater to the whole country. The point of his article is how DD, a public-funded channel, is not putting public interest before its commercial greed. The bottom line is that you can't take tax payer's money and then deny them what they really want. DD is being extremely hyporcytic in it's decisions, and this is plainly obvious for everyone to see. But posting replies on cricinfo is not going to help. Flood DD with emails, phone calls, letters... make your voice heard. Let them know that you are not going to sit back and let them do as they please.

Mr. Kesavan should be happy that at least he had a chance to "see" the match, given the track record of BCCI, DD et.al. His swipe at Tamil commentary was despicable, although it could have been unintensional.

A public broadcaster should do what is done with sports like golf or tennis in the US. Weekend telecasts shown on the terrestrial broadcaster, while telecast on weekdays will be shown on cable. People in India do not want a situation like the one in England to happen. All cricket is shown on BSkyB none on BBC

Cricket is no longer a sport but a form of entertainment, like most other big league sports industries. It is only a matter of time before a cricket team is fully privatised like some English premier league football teams. But, this is a good thing for the sport as it injects more funds which help the grassroots level and it is this benefit that the majority of poor Indians will receive.

So I would ask that you always see two sides to the story and think of the big picture - in this case, the long term development of Indian cricket.

In the short term, I would like to see more community effort of showing the matches live at community centres, other stadiums, public parks, etc. It happens in Southern America so why not India?

Good luck guys. Just my observations as an Australian observer.

Rgds
Rick

From the lotus feet of my Guru (not Sai Baba from bangalore)I contemplate with sadness Boganathar becoming his own nightmare...a old man whose currency is complaint and negativity.Kesavan you are always worthy of a second read irrespective of whether the serpent is uncoiling or your inner song is for the rainbow serpent.But seeing how much Boganathar loves himself I am glad atleast someone does.

An good article slightly marred by the somewhat fatuous comment early on, that test cricket with Tamil commentary is unwatchable..

According to the Sports Broadcast Bill approved this year, Prasar Bharti is entitled to show all Tests and one-dayers at home, and all one-dayers abroad. Away Tests don't count.