It’s crunch time. India plays England in the first test at Lord’s on Thursday and the channel that will air the match live is no where to be seen! Star Cricket was been launched with much fanfare and since it’s coming from the Star, the expectations are high. But the channel seems to have stumbled at the start itself. Thanks to the high monthly rental they are demanding, cable operators have not been able to reach any sort of agreement and, as a result, fans across the nation have already missed the warm up matches - which included a 171 by Sachin Tendulkar.
How much longer can the channel afford to negotiate? How much longer will the fans have to wait? I hope they don’t take it for granted that the fans will be patient long enough for them get what they want from the cable operators. They have to realise this soon lest they end up in the bad books of the fans, ala the lousy Neo Sports channle launched by Nimbus some time back and has now disappeared somewhere in the air.
Thankfully, we will not miss the ODIs no matter what, since they will be aired on DD. Even though it flaunts its power, I think DD has come to the rescue of the beleaguered Cricket fan many times.
Also, an all-Cricket channel will have to do really well with the programming when there’s no live Cricket being aired. I have heard that there will be talks shows and the like galore! But I guess we will end up watching the done and several times dusted serving of ‘Cricket Classics’ and ‘Cricket Gold’. Will be glad if I am proven wrong.
The haunting question, however, still remains: Where is Star Cricket? Sitting in the corner in a meeting room where money is the only thing that matters!
Cricket no longer attracts people as it used to do a few years back. The focus on the matches is more on the selection of the players, controversies surrounding them, sponsors and their issues. The pleasure of enjoying the game of cricket is gone.
Yes, I think the govt. should take stringent measures on such channels. it is high time someone files a lawsuit on this channel or the whole of India boycott these channels.
But, it is cricket.
Mere ghar pe aara
Good for u. Kab se?
Patha nahin! Roommate dekhraha tha koi match
I don’t see Cricket