MUMBAI: It was always a no brainer that without Virat Kohli, the ongoing Asia Cup would see a drop in both advertiser and media value for the tournament. Now media rights holder Star Sports has put on record that it faces a “serious dent” to revenue revenue accruals following the decision by the BCCI to rest the Team India captain.
It bears noting that Star Sports had acquired broadcast rights for the Asia Cup in 2016 for eight years.
Sunil Manoharan, a director at Star TV based in the UAE, first shot off a letter on 6 September to Thusith Perera, general manager, Asian Cricket Council, expressing Star’s stand on the matter. In the letter, accessed by The Print, Manoharan stated: “It has come to our knowledge (through a media advisory dated September 1, 2018 issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India) that Virat Kohli will not form a part of the Indian national cricket team for the upcoming Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 (the “Asia Cup”) to be held in the United Arab Emirates between September 15-28, 2018.
“We would like to bring to your notice that our media rights agreement dated June 29, 2017 (the “MRA”) with the Asian Cricket Council (the “ACC”) requires that the ACC ensures that the best available teams from each of the participating nations including India should form a part of the Asia Cup. It is apparent from the aforesaid media advisory issued by the BCCI as well statements made to the media by the chairman of the senior selection committee (MSK Prasad) that Virat Kohli has been rested by the selection committee despite him being available to participate in the tournament.
“Virat Kohli has been the most prolific run scorer in world cricket in the recent past. His presence in the Indian team and his aggressive captaincy has a dramatic impact on the outcome of each event. In our view, this announcement about the absence of one of the world’s best batsmen from this edition of the Asia Cup, only 15 days before the commencement of the Asia Cup, is a serious dent to us (the event broadcaster) and will severely impact our ability to monetize and generate revenues from the tournament.”
BCCI CEO Rahul Johri replied to Star’s missive (also accessed by The Print) on 16 September through the following rejoinder: “Kindly note that the team selected by BCCI selection Committee (an expert body comprising of former cricketers) to participate in the Asia Cup as announced on 1 September 2018 is the best available team.
“Please also take note that selection of the best available team for participation in a tournament is the sole prerogative of the selection committee of BCCI. It is not open for Asian Cricket Council or its broadcaster to insist on selection of any particular player and/or to question the expert opinion of the Selection Committee as to which is the best available team for a particular tournament.
“Needless to add, this email is being issued without prejudice to BCCI’s rights and contentions in law, all of which are expressly reserved.”
Cutting through the legalese, the possible outcome from this exchange of mails is that Star is preparing grounds for a demand for compensation from the ACC for the (notionally) continental governing body’s failure too ensure “that the best available teams from each of the participating nations including India should form a part of the Asia Cup”.
Rohit Sharma is leading India at the Asia Cup in Kohli’s absence. India will take on Hong Kong in their first match on Tuesday before a clash against arch-rivals Pakistan the following day.
