Ireland ODIs to be broadcast on six Indian channels

There is finally some good news for the cricket fan in India: Nimbus, the Indian production company, has announced that the forthcoming ODIs in Ireland featuring India, South Africa and Ireland will be beamed on six channels, with commentary in five languages. The channels include Doordarshan, the national broadcaster, and at least one other available on Direct-to-Home cable services.

This marks a change from India's tour of Bangladesh, where the Test matches were shown on Nimbus's Neo Sports and two regional-language channels, which were either not available in large parts of the country or of visuals-only use because of language problems.

This time around, commentary will be provided in four regional languages - Tamil (Sun News), Hindi (SAB TV), Telugu (Gemini News) and Kannada (Udaya Varthalugu). Neo Sports will carry commentary in English.

Also, in keeping with the Sports Act passed by the Indian government, all five India matches - including a one-off ODI against Pakistan in Scotland - will be broadcast live on Doordarshan.

Nimbus had acquired the rights to broadcast the offshore ODIs after the Zee network's deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) fell through. The series was under threat till Nimbus stepped in and agreed to pay US$24.20 million to the BCCI for four matches. Nimbus acquired the media rights for the two games involving Ireland from the Irish Cricket Union.

The series gets underway on June 23 with Ireland playing back-to-back games against India and South Africa respectively. India then face South Africa on June 26, 29 and July 1 before heading to Glasgow to face Pakistan on July 3.