India gets new cricket-on-TV deal

India TV anchor Mandira Bedhi and ICC chief Malcolm Speed

The Indian government has told TV firms with the rights to show cricket matches involving the national team to share the feed with the state broadcaster.

The move will be great news for poor Indian families, who could not afford subscriptions to private networks such as Zee and ESPN-Star Sports.

Information Broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy said the order was to take place "with immediate effect."

He said the directive covered "events held in India and abroad."

While benefiting consumers, the news will be a big setback for private broadcasters in cricket-mad India and could also damage the income of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

All series hosted by India and tours made by the national team will be subject to the order.

And international tournaments such as the World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy will be similarly affected from the semi-final stages onwards.

The BCCI sold the rights for two forthcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa to Prasar Bharti for around 900 million rupees (£11.2 million).