DD wins rights to mini World Cup

NEW DELHI, March 11: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may prefer ESPN as a carrier, but the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) choice is clearly Doordarshan. In a multi-million dollar deal, which was not controlled by monetary considerations alone, DD has won the rights for the ICC International Cup.

At a joint press conference, Prasar Bharati chief SS Gill and ICC chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya today announced that DD has bagged the rights in a competitive bid for the nine-nation, eight-match tournament beginning in Dhaka on October 23.

Even though Gill insisted that Dalmiya had been a major help in getting the rights, the ICC chief was at pains to describe that the rights were awarded strictly on merit. And merit included the DD’s reach as compared to Star Sports and ESPN.