MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media (MSM) has decided to simulcast the season 6 of Indian Premier League (IPL) on its Hindi movie channel Max as well as its sports channel Six.

The IPL will be available on a High Definition (HD) feed in English and a SD feed in Hindi on Six and a Standard Definition (SD) feed on Max.

MSM COO N P Singh said, "With the simulcast of the Indian Premier League 2013 on Max and Six, we aim to reach out to millions of more viewers spanning the nation. Through this, we hope to take the popularity of IPL 2013 to the next level."

Six, which has been positioned as a sports entertainment channel, was launched on 7 April last year during the IPL.

MSM expects the distribution of Six to strengthen with the telecast of the IPL on the sports channel. Six has yet to fully settle down on distribution networks.

Six had recently signed two new deals to strengthen its presence on direct-to-home (DTH) platforms. The channel is now available on Tata Sky, Airtel digital TV, Videocon d2h and Dish TV.

Gaurav Seth, who recently moved to Sony Entertainment Television as marketing head, will continue to handle the marketing of IPL to maintain continuity. He was handling the marketing of IPL as marketing head of Max.

The IPL will be held from 3 April to 26 May involving nine teams and 76 matches. It will have a new title sponsor in PepsiCo and a new IPL team in SunRisers, the Hyderabad IPL team.

MUMBAI: The chances of Pakistani players participating in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) remain bleak as the IPL Governing Council has discreetly asked all the franchises not to consider opting for Pakistan players in the upcoming auctions.

The players auction are scheduled for January.

The BCCI of which IPL GC is a sub-committee is cautious about the possible fallout of allowing Pakistani players in the IPL since the relation between the two countries are yet to normalise ever since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

According to a Mail Today report, the BCCI is also wary of several factors including the spot fixing controversy, the misbehavior on the part of some Pakistan players and the practicality of providing extra security and dealing with threats of disruption from various political and social organizations.

"We are trying to discourage the franchises against picking them during the auction. And there are obvious reasons for it," a BCCI source said.

Pakistani players had participated in the inaugural edition of the IPL. However, the 26/11 attack led to their exclusion from the tournament.

Incidentally, the Pakistani team is scheduled to tour India late December for a five match series which includes 3 ODIs and 2 T20s.