That's a pity, for Doordarshan and sport are not made for each other. If anything, it raises the hackles of viewers. Nothing typifies this anger more towards Doordarshan than its telecast of the Sharjah tournament the past few days. In fact, The Indian Express has been besieged with letters from viewers expressing their disgust.

The biggest grouse is against Doordarshan's indifference to the cricket lover's sensibility. On several occassions, advertisements flashed in between overs have encroached into playing time. Often, just five balls of an over are shown. DD either starts the advertisement run before the sixth ball is delivered or runs it through the first delivery of an over.

Most readers, and a number of cricketers that thiscorrespondent spoke to, were livid. One claimed that DD robbed them of viewing a total of 100 balls (or 16 overs) per match, by showing only five deliveries in each over.

``The most vexing part is DD's nasty habit of showing an advertisement just as a catch is to be completed or a run out effected,'' said a cricketer associated with KSCA. ``This is infuriating. Surely, whoever is responsible for this lacks cricket sense.''

Another former state cricketer, Ramesh Rao, was unhappy with the audio quality. ``There is an echo or humming for long periods. Initially, I thought the problem was with my television. But then at other places too, I noticed this same defect. The echo is particularly irritating.''

``DD must stop running advertisements when graphics come on the screen,'' said another cricketer. ``Graphics are very informative. But DD either shows some number to call up for some contest or runs an advertisement. I'm sure even the company that is running the contest will be unhappy with the amount ofgoodwill it has lost these past few days.''

But then, it wasn't brickbats all the way. Goverdhan, a software engineer with exposure to sport in the United States for close to 10 years, batted for DD. ``Do not compare it to ESPN, which is the world's biggest sports channel with six feeds and decades of exposure to sports telecasting. But I'm sure they would have made similar mistakes during their formative years.''

``DD, in comparison, is an amateur, a beginner. Do not be harsh. Give DD a chance to grow. I have been watching the Sharjah matches very keenly and I do not think it is all that bad,''he added.

Former Test cricketer B S Chandrashekar too was easy on DD. ``I did not know that it was DD telecasting the matches. So I guess it is okay. I guess these days, advertisements are part of the set up. Maybe those who flash it have to be more professional. Besides cricket, I am also very keen on film songs. Even there advertisements are shown either before the song starts or well before it really ends. Ifind it as irritating,'' he said.

Last year, viewers were furious that DD was forcing Hindi commentary on them. Thankfully, this year that has been done away with. Now all that the channel needs to do is improve the audio quality and get its ad timing right. Cricket lovers would surely appreciate these improvements this evening when India take on Pakistan.

DD must show that it is not greed that motivates it. Over to you, DD.