ITV buys IPL cricket rights Media

Indian Premier League: Balachandra Akhil of Royal Challengers. Photograph: Luigi Bennett/Sports Inc/PA Photos

Cricket is to lapse to ITV for the initial time in some-more than thirty years after the broadcaster acquired rights to this year"s Indian Premier League competition.

The understanding will see the broadcaster air 59 of 60 live matches on ITV4. The IPL starts on twelve Mar and runs for 45 days.

Coverage will be presented by Matt Smith with Bollywood singer and presenter Mandira Bedi who hosted Cricket World Cup coverage in India.

The IPL will additionally have a dilettante territory on the ITV.com website and has the right to webcast matches. The contest will be upheld by a distinguished selling debate on ITV. In the UK, the rights were formerly hold by pay-TV use Setanta, that collapsed last year.

The blank compare is expected to be the second of dual on Sunday 4 April, Delhi Daredevils vs Bangalore Royal Challengers in Delhi. This clashes with British Touring Car racing from Thruxton, that ITV4 had already committed to show.

In January, YouTube struck a understanding to webcast live IPL matches globally.

The IPL, that is an eight-team contest of Twenty20 cricket, includes players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Jacques Kallis and Chris Gayle. English players participating in this season"s contest embody Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah.

"In usually dual years, the Indian Premier League has already determined itself as one of the world"s majority high-profile and sparkling sports events that attracts a little of the really most appropriate cricketers from around the globe," pronounced the ITV executive of digital channels and acquisitions, Zai Bennett. "It is an sparkling merger for one of the UK"s fastest flourishing digital channels and we"re gay to be means to suggest the total contest free-to-air to the viewers."

The authority and government official of the IPL, Lalit Modi, pronounced he was gay the IPL contest will be promote on a free-to-air channel.

•To hit the MediaGuardian headlines table email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all alternative inquiries greatfully call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

• If you are essay a criticism for publication, greatfully symbol obviously "for publication".