NEW DELHI: Cricket fans in India and some abroad were denied coverage of the start of the national team's first one-day international against England due to a wrangle over a television contract.

The rights holder Neo Sport was denied an uplinking facility by the government department Prasar Bharti for a failure to lodge documents and provide a bank guarantee of $800,000 in time for the start of the game.

By the time the issue was resolved and the link restored, the opening three overs of Friday's game in Hyderabad had passed.

Neo said in a statement it was disappointed with the “unreasonable behavior” of Prasar Bharti.