Get back the pros!

A lazy day at home invariably translates into a lazy day in front of the idiot box whenever there's some good cricket action to catch. With the second test between India and Pakistan at Kolkata poised evenly after day one ("Eden Stevens" as the TOI proclaimed this morning!), tuning in to the second day's play was an especially exciting proposition. Our friends at Prasar Bharati, however, are bent on dampening some of the fun, with coverage that can at best be deemed abominable. The picture on DD National would have one believe Kolkata is in the midst of heavy snow storms, while on DD Sports sound and picture are hopeless out of sync. DD Sports also seems to be plagued by satellite disturbances, resulting in a perpetually breaking transmission. And then of course, the over-eagerness of the blokes in the control room to vanish into commercial breaks is quite shocking. Milliseconds after a batsman gets out, it's cut to the Pepsi Khufiya screen, followed by one long break which ends after the new batsman has played his third delivery. And there's absolutely no patience for mid-over sight screen adjustments or walky-talky calls from the umps to the third umpire ... DD believes these are times to cash in with commercials. Even their own commentators are mercilessly interrupted mid-sentence at the end of overs or at the fall of wickets. All this is a real shame especially when one takes into account the circumstances under which DD has been awarded the rights to telecast the series. They've been extremely fortunate beneficiaries of the ESPN-Zee court battle but have been unqualified failures when it comes to coverage. One can only hope the legal tangles are resolved sooner rather than later and Indian cricket coverage finds its way back into the hands of seasoned professionals.