The Board of Control for Cricket in India, struggling to find a new long-term sponsor at its steep asking price, has signed another short-term deal with Sahara.

The contract, which it was thought would be extended for three months, will now run for another half a year on the previous terms, guaranteeing the BCCI another US$8 million.

Sahara's original deal with the BCCI saw it pay some US$21.5 million a year, but the BCCI had been holding out for a vast increase on that for the next deal. By the time the 24th November deadline for bids had passed, not only had no company offered the reputed US$35 million a year that the BCCI was asking for, but, according to local media reports, none of the official bid documents, costing some US$10,000 themselves, had been purchased.

Meanwhile, World Sports Group has secured the title rights to India's two Twenty20 international matches against Sri Lanka, paying US$1.36 million.