India-Australia series surpasses Ashes in TV viewership

The ongoing India-Australia Test series may have been a one-sided affair so far with Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men coming a cropper but it has drawn more eyeballs than the Ashes with the latest ratings showing a shift in interest for cricket fans here.

The television audiences for the ongoing series are up by more than 30 per cent than last year's Ashes, indicating that the historical contest against England is no longer the most watched cricket series in Australia.

Broadcaster Channel 9 has recorded an average national rating of 1.492 million viewers during the two Tests so far, while last summer an average of 1.144 million tuned in for the drubbing England dished out.

Nine's head of sport Steve Crawley said India are now Australia's greatest rival.

"India are our gun opponent now. The Ashes may well come back, especially if England hold on to that No.1 ranking, but right now all the evidence shows that India is in front for Australian audiences," Crawley said.

"It seems there's plenty of interest in watching guys like Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, and James Pattinson already has real star quality," he was quoted as saying in 'Daily Telegraph'.