CHENNAI, Feb 24: An Indian court on Thursday ordered public broadcaster Doordarshan to telecast the upcoming cricket matches against Pakistan, ending speculation the high-profile tour could be cancelled due to a TV rights row.

Judge K. P. Sivasubramanian of the Chennai High Court ruled in an interim order that Doordarshan be given the rights for the tour and asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to organise the production of the telecast.

"I am sure cricket fans will be happy now," a TV channel quoted the judge as saying. The court said the BCCI can decide who would produce the series, but specified it should be a firm other than Zee and rival ESPN Star Sports.

"They (BCCI) are free to negotiate with any other company for production," Justice K.V. Sivasubramaniam said in his judgement. "The order clearly says BCCI will have to find an alternative other than Zee and ESPN," said Ashish Kaul, a vice-president of brand development at Essel Group, which partly owns Zee.

A final judgement is expected next month, though it will not affect the Pakistan tour. The BCCI backed out of a four-year, US$308-million deal with Zee after it was challenged in court by rival ESPN-Star Sports, jointly owned by Disney and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Doordarshan had also telecast the home series against Australia and South Africa earlier in the season on the advice of the Supreme Court. BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra welcomed the interim order, saying all doubts about the Pakistan tour taking place had been removed.

"We will abide by the court's judgement and finalise the production details soon," said Mahendra. The judge, however, banned the BCCI from hiring either Zee or ESPN-Star Sports for the production.

Both channels had offered to produce the telecast to end the current impasse after the International Cricket Council said on Tuesday the series was unlikely to be played if the TV issue was not solved.

Pakistan are due to arrive in Delhi on Monday to play three Tests and six One-day Internationals on their first full tour of India since 1999. The first Test begins in the northern town of Mohali on March 8.

The Pakistan Cricket Board welcomed the settlement. "The telecast matter was India's internal matter but we were always hopeful that it would be solved," said spokesman Abbas Zaidi in Lahore.

"We welcome its settlement and hope it will be a historic series. There is a lot of excitement over the series on both sides and it would have been a dampener had the row affected the tour." India toured Pakistan after a 14-year-gap last year, winning the Tests 2-1 and one-dayers 3-2. -Agencies