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MUMBAI: Star's big bet on India cricket seems to have got
the blessings of the two arch rival nations as India and Pakistan
return to the playing arena to compete against each other
after a gap of over five years. The resumption of cricketing
ties means that Star, the BCCI’s media rights holder,
will have the telecast rights for the bilateral ties to be
played in December-January.
"Star
India will have the telecast rights for the India-Pakistan
series. The broadcaster will pay Rs 322.6 million per match,
the same amount that it is forking out for the first two years
of the rights," a top BCCI official said on condition
of anonymity.
Pakistan
is expected to tour India in December 2012–January 2013
for a three ODI and two Twenty20 match series. Chennai, Kolkata
and Delhi are tipped to host ODI matches while Bangalore and
Ahmedabad are expected to be the venues for the two T20 matches.
Star
had in April acquired the media rights for international cricket
played in India for a whopping Rs 38.51 billion till 2018.
The broadcaster will pay Rs 322.6 million per match for the
first two years and a whopping Rs 432 million for the next
four years.
The
PCB, it is understood, was pitching for having its own home
series on the Indian soil. However, the BCCI did not warm
up to the idea. The BCCI also turned down PCB's proposal of
having its home matches at neutral venue.
The
PCB’s contention was that it was Pakistan’s turn
to host a series, more so since India’s tour of Pakistan
in 2009 was cancelled due to the Mumbai attacks. The cancellation
of that tour had cost PCB heavily since it had to rework its
deal with broadcast partner Taj Television-owned Ten Sports.
PCB
had to give a $40 million waiver to Ten Sports for the cancellation
of series, thereby denting its earning. Ten Sports had agreed
to pay $140 million for the production and telecast rights
of all international matches from Pakistan running from 2009
to 2013.
Ten,
which has only one India series to telecast this year, was
pinning its hopes on an Indo-Pak series. However its hopes
have been dashed, now that the BCCI has driven a hard bargain
from the PCB to have the matches played in India.
The
decision, meanwhile, ended days of speculation and also marks
the resumption of cricketing ties which have been on a standstill
ever since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The two countries
last played a series in 2007-08 when Pakistan toured India
for three match Test matches and five ODIs.
"It
was decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting
the Pakistan cricket team for a short series in December 2012
– January 2013. The modalities will be worked out shortly,"
BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said.
However,
the bilateral series will still need Government approval.
The
decision was commended by PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, who said,
"The decision is great and we welcome it. It seems that
millions of cricket fans have their wishes fulfilled. We are
still waiting for a BCCI invitation for the series, but it
seems it will surely be held later this year."
The
series will be scheduled between the split tour of India and
England involving four Tests, five ODIs and two T20 internationals.
The English team will play the Tests and T20s from 15 November-22
December and return for a five match ODI series beginning
11 January after the Christmas break.
Recently,
the foreign secretaries of the two countries had also given
thumbs-up to the resumption of bilateral ties following their
meeting in New Delhi as part of engagement aimed at normalising
relation between the two countries.
The
heads of BCCI and PCB have also been in regular talks for
the last couple of years to bring about resumption of ties.
PCB
chairman Zaka Ashraf had met his counterpart BCCI president
N Srinivasan on the sidelines of last month’s ICC Executive
Board meeting in Malaysia.
As
a first step towards normalising cricketing relations, the
BCCI had approved the participation of Pakistan’s domestic
champion Sialkot Stallions in the qualifying tournament of
Champions League Twenty20 being played in South Africa.
In
the last five years, the two countries have played each other
only in multi-team events including the famous semi-final
at Mohali during the 2011 ICC World Cup. The two teams had
also locked horns with each other in the four-nation Asia
Cup tournament in Bangladesh.
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