NEW DELHI: If Doordarshan has sewn up a cricket deal which is quite a win-win situation for it, sister concern All-India Radio isn't far behind.

According to the Prasar Bharati sources, AIR has managed to swing a deal for 18 cricket matches, including those in the up and coming World Cup in South Africa and last year's Champion's trophy, for just Rs 3.6 million.

AIR will be broadcasting running commentaries of most of the important matches in the World Cup featuring India, the semi-final matches and, of course, the final show at Johannesburg.

The sources also added that AIR has managed a comparatively cheaper deal because it does not have any competitor in the space it operates in in India. Private FM players are not allowed to broadcast such events on their stations.

Since there are still things remaining to be finalised, the commercial deals are in the process of being inked. "As far as our understanding goes, AIR hasn't finalised the panel of commentators yet. But there is time for all these things to be wrapped up," a source in Prasar Bharati said.

AIR, however, does expect the World Cup to bring in sizeable revenues for it.