Even as the dust has barely settled on the Australia series, everyone is busy with their calculators trying to work out how much Ten Sports stands to gain from the three-test match and five-One Day Internationals that are scheduled be played between India and Pakistan from 10 March onwards.

With some outrageously optimistic figures being bandied about in the media as to what the expected earnings from this eagerly awaited series could be, indiantelevision.com has done its own calculations and we present it here.

There are two presenting sponsors for the series Samsung and Bajaj Auto who have each paid Rs 110 million so that means Rs 220 million. Seven associate sponsors Hutch, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hero Cycles, Pepsi, LG Electronics and Maruti have pitched in Rs 75 million each for a total of Rs 525 million. That means that from the sponsors alone Ten will make Rs 745 million. As far as spot buys are concerned, with a premium being charged from advertisers for the One-Day matches at rates ranging between $18,000 and $20,000 per 30-second spot (spot buys for the tests are $ 6,000), the total is expected to be in the region of Rs 250 million. Add another 150 million for the other program packages that Ten throws in and the total in ad sales that Ten will make should be between Rs 1.1 billion - Rs 1.15 billion.

What are the outgoes? For one, Ten will have to shell out an assured guarantee-money of $9 million. Then there is the cost of packaging the tournament.

According to information available with indiantelevision.com, ESPN Star Sports shelled out $ 20,000 per day as costs of production in Ozland. It worked out so cheap for ESS because the main feed was provided by Channel Nine and the camera crew dedicated to ESS at each venue were only four. The advantage that places like the UK and Australia offer is that cameras and crew can be hired at each centre and there is no need to lug around huge masses of equipment from place to place.

PRODUCTION COSTS $1.5 MILLION
Looking at Ten Sports, since it is doing the onground production itself, it will have to fly in both equipment and crew from abroad. Not only will they have to be carted around from centre to centre but will have to be booked for a full one and a half months. This is going to take costs up massively and it will come to about $ 75,000 a day when the matches are on, industry sources tell indiantelevision.com. Therefore three tests and five ODIs should cost $ 1.5 million all told. Add the guarantee-money of $9 million which means the actual outgo (excluding marketing costs) should be around $ 10.5 million (Rs 485 million).

Ten Sports is certainly going to make a killing on this. Especially if Modi Entertainment, which is handling the distribution, can deliver as far as ramping up subscription revenues are concerned, then it's the gravy train for team Ten.

Money apart, there is also good news for fans of Navjot Singh Sidhu. The former India opener, well known for his outlandish "Sidhuisms", will be taking guard for Ten alongside the likes of Ravi Shastri, Imran Khan, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ian Healy and Robin Jackman.

But all this hinges on the fact that the Indo-Pak cricket series comes through and Ten Sports manages to retain its exclusive rights in India. After Pakistan's state TV PTV managed to wring out a concession from Ten to provide it with the terrestrial feed, India's pubcaster Doordarshan has been trying its all to get a similar concession.

Last time Pakistan played in India in 1999 during the Pepsi Cup, DD earned about Rs 40 million per ODI, according to Prasar Bharati calculations, so there is a lot at stake for DD beyond just "national pride".

There is a much bigger IF of course. And that is whether the tour will go ahead or not. Even as the security issue has more or less been sorted out, comes the news that India's home ministry yesterday has sown doubts on the lack of adequate security measures in the neighbouring country. A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official admitted that it has been conveyed to the Board, unofficially though, that it would be nice if the Test cricket is postponed till after the general elections.

The real reason: The home ministry doesn't think that the Indian cricket team is in a good shape (after the VB series Finals drubbing Down Under) to contribute to the "feel-good factor", an issue that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a general elections plank.

There is still a full month to go for the tour to kick off and a whole lot can happen in that time. As they say. A week is a long time in politics and whether this tour will finally go ahead has more to do with politics than anything else.