Pathetic TV coverage of cricket in India

Today afternoon I was watching the second test between India and South Africa. Tsotsobe was bowling to Sachin Tendulkar. The ball pitched short of a length and moved away after pitching, Tendulkar edged it, the ball flew to the slips, Kallis caught the ball and a young college going boy started cutting onions in a restaurant! No, it is not a typing mistake. As soon as Kallis caught the ball, cricket was off the screens and the advertisement of a latest mobile phone took its place instead.

The joy of watching cricket is not only about watching the ball sail over the boundary or a reverse swinging yorker scatter the stumps. These things no doubt are a treat to watch, but the real joy of watching cricket is seeing the happiness on the bowler's face after he takes a wicket, the disappointment a batsman experiences after he edges one to the keeper, the emotions a young player like Tsotsobe shows when he takes the wicket of a legend like Tendulkar. Without these things watching cricket becomes a monotonous activity and something which you don't mind skipping.

Who is to be blamed for the mess? Naturally, the tendency is to blame TV channel broadcasting the series. But we will be missing a point if we do that. They have, after all, spent billions of dollars for acquiring the telecast rights and have every right to increase the advertising revenues. The fault lies with the BCCI. It is the BCCI which is supposed to be the guardian of cricket in India and not the television companies. Before awarding the telecast rights the BCCI should frame certain rules regarding the quality of coverage. One very simple clause can be that ads can be shown only after a ball is 'dead', not before that, as it now happens regularly after the last ball of the over. Sure, the telecast rights may not be sold for as much amount as they currently do, but the quality of coverage will be much better and the biggest stakeholders in cricket, the viewers, will not have a reason to complain.

Alas, having watched the way BCCI works, it doesn't inspire much confidence that any positive step will be taken in this direction. Till then the Indian viewers have to make do with watching 'The Ashes' and other series telecast by Channel9.