Indian board fears for Pakistan tour

Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the new president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, fears that the India-Pakistan series might be cancelled if the television-rights issue is not resolved soon. He ruled out the possibility of a temporary arrangement similar to the one worked out before Australia's tour because of the lost revenue that would involve. A board official, SK Nair, had privately revealed earlier that the loss amounted to US$34million for the Australian and South African tours.

Speaking to the Times of India, Mahendra said: "I'm hopeful that the matter will be sorted out quickly as there is scarcely any time left. If that doesn't happen, we'll request the court to allow us to proceed and make the necessary arrangements. We have no option but to wait for the verdict."

Besides the revelation about lost revenue, the uncomfortable questions asked by board members have led Mahendra to believe that a temporary solution will only defer the problem; hence a need to resolve the issue immediately. "We lost a lot of revenue because of this [temporary arrangement] during the series against Australia and South Africa. It led to many questions and problems within the board."

Meanwhile, Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, reiterated that the series could go ahead only if a live telecast arrangement was in place. As per ICC guidelines, each host country has to provide a certain number of cameras on the field to provide live feed to the third umpire for making crucial decisions. Apart from the third umpire's role, Mani said that there were millions of fans worldwide hoping to tune into the matches.

"It will be a disservice to the game of cricket if this India-Pakistan series is not telecast live across the world," he said. "I am surprised why every time this matter is taken to court at the last moment, as had happened earlier too."

Subhash Chandra of Zee TV sent letters to the board on the 1st and 15th of February, seeking an end to the dispute, but was met with silence from the BCCI. Mahendra said that he would meet with Chandra, but a settlement was out of the question because there were numerous parties involved.