MUMBAI: Taj Television reached an agreement yesterday with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), which extends its telecast rights for the forthcoming Australia tour of the Emerald Isles beyond just South Asia.

The agreement between Taj TV, which runs the Ten Sports channel, and SLC gives the Dubai-based sports broadcaster global television (excluding terrestrial broadcasts in Sri Lanka) rights for the upcoming tour. Australia are due to play five ODIs and three Tests in February and March.

Says Ten Sports programming head Peter Hutton, "We're delighted to further extend our relationship with the Sri Lankan board. We have sub-licensed the rights to the Australian broadcaster Fox Sports as well as guaranteeing to show the games on our channels in Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan."

Taj Television was one of five companies that had bid for rights. PCN Sports, Sony Entertainment's Max and TWI had pulled out of the bid process after an initial expression of interest while Taj's offer was preferred to the one made by WSG Nimbus, reports cricinfo.com.