Pick your Indian Team for the Pakistani Series!

[vvvrulz]

Ah, fair enough opinion about Laxman actually.

Ganguly has a reputation of belting the minnows, good on him though for getting some runs. Disappointing batting efforts from the East/West game.

[Zainub]

Sachin getting out to Kumble - bowled, I saw that dismissal on Sports Centre (ESPN Star Sports) yesterday, good dilvery, but Sachin probably a bit late on it.

[nirajzaveri12]

Zainub, Good for you....that you can watch those matches!
I can't watch start sports cricket here in US.
I will only have to see the score and revere those players!
And I might not also be able to watch India-Pakistan as dish network might not telecast it this time, another company called Direct TV will telecast it....
So, I might have to get video tapes from Indian stores!

[vvvrulz]

Absolutely no hope of me getting coverage here in NZ. It all comes down to internet updates and ordering DVD's later down the track (if India win).

[Zainub]

Thank God in most likelihood I will get the coverage. Or at least I'm desperately hoping so. I'd be really really very sad if I will not be able to watch the series. Really very, very sad.

By whom though I will get the coverage at this stage at least as I write I am not entirely sure. There has been a TV rights dispute on that did get me a little worried intially but thankfully that's been solved as well, or well, temporarily at least.The latest news today is that the Madras High Court in India has ordered that the telecast rights be handed to Doordarshan for the entire series, with neither Zee nor ESPNStar getting anything out of it. This all started when the BCCI awarded the telecast rights to Zee, which is a network primarily entertainment-oriented and has no experience whatsoever in telecasting major sports events. In making this controversial award the BCCI certainly shot themselves in the foot, and ESPNStar Sports were understandably livid. And from then on things have never really stopped with the TV rights dispure first threatenning the Aus-Ind series (International Cricket Council regulations say without live telecast the matches cannot be played, TV coverage is also necessary for 3rd umpire) and now the Paksitan India series before being resolved, albite still temporarily I presume.

Any how that means that now DD sports will broad cast the series in India, Sony and Ten Sports I think are in running for production rights and everything for elsewhere (I think, I might be wrong though). I think I'd preffer Ten Sports to Sony. Sony get Mandira Bedi in there mostly and I am totally against the use of celebs who have no or very little idea of the game for sports commentary and or post/pre match show hosting. They ask the most ridiculous questions ever.

Ten Sports on the other hand, whenever it gets its hand on cricket, it puts forward (or tries to) a some what respectable bunch of former cricketers, which is the least you could hope for. Last time in the India Pak series here though they did an excellent job, we had Dean Jones, Robin Jackman, Michael Slater and Ian Healy as well. Probably even Chapelli if I'm remembering correctly to add to their usual pairing of Ramiz Raja and Sanjay Manjerekar, with Sherry and Imran Khan doing occasional stints for post and pre match shows. It was world class.

I know though that quite a lot of people in India are not entirely happy with the rights going off to DD sports whose commentary team boast (in appropriate word here I admit) of the likes of Charu sharma, Sivaramakrishnan and Manindar Singh (you have to wonder how many people would look forward to hearing them!)...But no cricket is way better then cricket with bad commentators..at least they're getting to watch cricket, they can always turn the volume mute if comentary gets too bad.

[imaginarydiva]

Ugh!I cant stand Mandira Bedi..i hope Sony doesn't get the deal.ofcourse,i dont like TEN sports that much either.They have a good pack of commentators except Manjarekar...I just can't stand that guy.I wish ESPN had the deal.They are the best.Damn the court verdict!

[Zainub]

ESPN would have been my foremost preference too Imaginarydiva. I think it was just ridiculous of the BCCI to award the rights to Zee in the first place, I'm actually stunned they did that. ESPN should have got them all the way thorough.

I'm more a fan of the quality of ESPN's actuall coverage (the replays, graphics, camera works etc and everything are far far superior then any of their rivals) rather there commentary panel alone which is for other people's knowledge dubbed "ESPN's A Few Good Men" , it consists of Sunny Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram, Geoff Boycott, Alan Wilkins, Gautum Bhimani and Harsha Bhogle.

I'm not that big a fan of Sunny Gavaskar to be perfectly honest with you, he isn't perhaps unbiased enough for my liking, but Harsha Bhogle simply is superb. He's perhaps the best commentator in all sub continent, and arguably amogst the top three in the world. And Bhimani simply put is hilarious. Geooff Boycott is not one of my favorites either, especially with is frequent dozes of Bob Willis kind sarcasm, but he's pretty respected and revered in this part of the world, so I guess I can tolerate him still. Alan Wilkins is perhaps the most unbiased and most diversified character of the lot. But he tends to go off the topic a lot. I don't mind him too much either though. Ravi Shasti and Wasim Akram do a good job too, but there will be always some people who won't exactly be their fans either. I don't think I would say I was a particularly close follower of the Shaz-Was show for instance, I think it was bit too much. But all the bad points of the commentary panel are made up the virtual perfection of Bhogle's broadcasting skills, and Joy Bhattachariya's excellent production, the technical work ESPN do really put the miles ahead of everyone else in the sub-continent. They're the best in that respect. And they should have got the rights. As simple as that.