Coming soon: Reality TV’s Cricket Special

It’s reality television, Cricket style, and it’s what Harish Thawani, head of production house Nimbus, has in mind. ‘‘The BCCI currently wants us to start 10 minutes before the match and finish after the post-match presentation but they’ve agreed to our proposal and, from the next series, we can start two hours before’’, Thawani told The Indian Express today.

“And so the cameras will enter the team bus and begin coverage from the point when they get into the bus. We won’t invade the privacy of the players but would want to give our viewers a feel of team atmosphere and how they prepare for a match.’’

Nimbus also has another ace up its sleeve: It plans to give Sourav Ganguly his debut as a commentator. Though Thawani said no offer had been made as yet, he did concede that once Sourav makes up his mind to take up commentary, ‘‘we’ll sign him up the next day.’’

Nimbus had won the TV rights last month by bidding $612 million for a four-year deal and now appears to be making a serious effort, through innovations, to recoup some of that. During the one-day tour match in Jaipur last weekend, RCA XI skipper Ajay Jadeja was wired for some time whle fielding, joining in with the commentators.