Cast ready but no cash, no cameras

Though there has been no sponsor for domestic cricket in India for about eight years now, the last two Challenger Trophy (Bangalore 2001-2 and 2003-4) have had sponsors, along with live telecast of the matches.

One of the major pre-conditions of sponsors in the past has been the presence of star players in major events. In the absence of any assurance to that effect it has always been difficult for the BCCI to sell domestic cricket.

‘‘Yes, it’s a bad situation’’, says BCCI joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta, filling in for secretary SK Nair who is attending an ICC meeting in Melbourne. ‘‘The court cases left us with no time to find either a sponsor or a channel. But we still have a couple of days to go, and we are in talks with a couple of companies. There might still be some good news.’’

If not, it’s bad news for hosts Mumbai Cricket Association, who’ve had to spend close to Rs 10 lakhs for the four-day affair. ‘‘his would have been the perfect opportunity to showcase domestic cricket’’, said MCA joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty.

‘‘We have very little time, so it looks highly unlikely that the BCCI will be able to find anyone. The matches are day-night so a telecast would have helped the fans have a look at the best in India’’, said Shetty.

All is not lost, says BCCI treasurer Jyoti Bajpai. ‘‘At the last meeting (of the BCCI), there was some talk of clinching a deal. I think something might still be possible’’, he said.

The BCCI had plans to sell TV rights for both domestic and international matches last September for a four year period but the matter is now in court. The current domestic calendar has seen just one match — North Zone vs West in the Deodhar Trophy at Baroda — telecast live. Even that was telecast because it was a benefit match for former Ranji star Mukesh Narula and so had a sponsor.

For the record BCCI though has managed to form a consortium of Pepsi, Videocon and TVS Motors to sponsor international cricket in India by turn from September 2003 to 2006.