Can you confirm the source of this? I have been trying to this across websites and haven't come across any that have confirmed this piece of news. There has been speculation for sure, but no confirmation.
There's some talk that Amazon might team up with Sony-ESPN for the joint rights. In that case, most likely the digital portion would be retained by Amazon. I agree that Prime is a far option than any of the current OTT, however, it also remains to be seen what markets they look at- for e.g, the current NZ broadcast deal, isn't available on the Prime platform in South East Asia. If 'm not mistaken, the IPL rights will be bucketed regionally this time round.
As per BCCI norms, if a bidder wins the TV rights, they need to set up a channel within 3 months. For the likes of Amazon (& Facebook last year), they would solely focus on the digital portion, which was erstwhile held by Hotstar (on account of Star winning the composite bid)
Now, as to you point about "the majority of the country is deprived"; tbh, the BCCI doesnt and wouldn't care. Especially if they receive the amounts they are getting. Cricket in India (national team) is subject by law, to a free-to-air mechanism, wherein the onus is on the TV rights holder to either set up a free-to-air channel OR share the feed with the state broadcaster(Doordarshan). For IPL, this only comes in at the playoff stages. Essentially, the concern lies between the TV rights holder and the govt of India. The BCCI can excuse itself here.
