Cricket Australia’s decision to forge ahead without a single T20 international on free-to-air TV is set to cost them a staggering three million viewers by the end of Sunday’s third clash against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Wednesday night’s T20 opener between the traditional powerhouses, screened exclusively on Foxtel, attracted 318,000 viewers, which is excellent for pay TV.

Behind a paywall: Virat Kohli would have been a star attraction for Channel Seven. Credit:AAP

But T20 internationals averaged more than 1.3 million viewers when shown on Nine last summer. Based on similar figures, the three T20s against India would have attracted around four times the number of viewers had they been shown on Seven.

A keenly fought T20 series on free-to-air would have generated maximum interest for Seven heading into their first Test series against India, which starts next month. Instead, they will screen All Together Now and The Greatest Mafia Hits on Sunday evening.