The notification was placed before the Delhi High Court which was hearing a PIL seeking direction to Prasar Bharati to telecast Test matches live on Doordarshan in which India participates.

The government, however, refused to place all the Test matches on par with ODIs and T20 as of public interest sporting events.

"All official ODI and Twenty-20 matches played by the Indian Men's Cricket Team and such Test matches as are considered to be of high public interest by the Central government," the government's notification said.

The government also notified ‘semifinals and finals of Men's World Cup and International Cricket Council Championship Trophy’ as sporting events of national importance.

The petitioner, a cricket buff Ravi Dev Gupta, however, objected to the government's stand and said that the court has to intervene to decide the larger issue whether or not Test matches were of sporting events of national importance vis-a-vis ODIs and T20.

However, a Bench comprising Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna refused to pass any order and posted the matter for further hearing in November observing that ‘would you (Gupta) like to see the match after yesterday's performance".