JOHANNESBURG: Cricket Australia waited until the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights sale before selling the sub-continent rights (read: India market) for all cricket Down Under to Sony Pictures Network last year.

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The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has not yet sold its overseas broadcast rights (read: India market) so far, and is possibly waiting for the Indian cricket board to conclude its bilateral media rights sale.

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SuperSport, the South African group of television channels owned by Multichoice and carried on the DStv satellite platform, is banking on this India series to compensate for losses incurred through lack of a sustainable digital platform and a floundering calendar.

Every other full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) across the world has the country’s cricket broadcast rights invested from India.

Such is the clout of the India market on a global platform that Indian cricket alone dictates the dynamics of a sport witnessing generational shifts.

In that, if India’s cricket fails to match up to the standards that the industry is looking to put in place, it does not augur well for the overall health of the game, especially where a format like Test cricket – one struggling to retain its oldworld charm in modern-day preferences – is concerned.

“Too much money destroying Indian cricket?” say cricket fans at stadiums overseas watching India play. The statement comes when, out on the field, the Indian team is struggling to survive against a nation (South Africa) that is playing better cricket at most times but not so much in the pink of health where finances are concerned.

There is awe and resentment in equal measure about India’s cricketing mindset. On one hand, the BCCI dictates the functioning of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Indian broadcasters dictate the distribution of global cricket rights, Indian advertisers make for most in-stadia contracts, Indian companies like Techfront provide solutions and sponsorship management to most cricket boards around the world.

But where playing the game is concerned, India still carry the label of being backyard bullies when travelling abroad.

Here’s a question posed to Virat Kohli, the captain of the Indian team.

Q) Talk of India doing well in India but not overseas, do you still believe you’re the best side in the world?

Virat’s answer: Look, we have to believe that we are the best side. Even when we came here, if you don’t have the belief that you can win the series here, there is no point coming here. We have not come here just to participate. And answering your question sir, how many times did South Africa come into the game in India? Coming close to winning games in India? Can you count?
The last line has a different element to it, to be seen from lenses that don’t focus on cricket alone.
South Africa coming to India and dominating there has a separate theoretical dimension to it from a global perspective. India does not cater to South African population at home the way South Africa caters to the Indian diaspora here. When South Africa arrive in India, they’re far away from their land and people and in conditions that are absolutely foreign (the IPL has been blurring that line).
However, when India travel overseas, be it South Africa, England or Australia, they often find themselves at a home away from home – inhabited by familiar people who follow Indian cricket with the same amount of passion that people back in India do.
Source : timesofindia