India should be a no-brainer for the Premier League's bean-counters and merchandise marketeers. It is the world's second most populous nation and half of its residents are under 25. Most of the country may be grindingly poor, but it has the fastest-growing pool of dollar millionaires on the planet (about 125,000 and counting) and many of the young and relatively wealthy follow European football on satellite television and revel in conspicuous consumption.

Encouragingly, perhaps, the sundries that accompany English football appear to appeal to Indian tastes. The Times of India, the world's most widely circulated English-language newspaper, has a curious preoccupation with the matrimonial bliss (or otherwise) of Cheryl and Ashley Cole and yesterday it carried a story on Danielle Lloyd - “the serial WAG” - on its back page.

Just look at Bollywood. The typical film is an overblown piece of melodrama with a dash of Greek tragedy thrown in that runs on at interminable length. Now survey the song and dance playing out over Cristiano Ronaldo's future at Manchester United and tell me that the Barclays Premier League will not fit into the Indian landscape. Yet the sub-continent has a habit of throwing up surprises, such as producing a group of footballers who supposedly declined the chance to play in the 1950 World Cup finals because they refused to wear boots.

First and foremost, cricket's grip on the nation cannot be underestimated - even when the man in the street often assumes that a match has been fixed if it goes to the wire. Indeed, corruption is endemic in India, particularly in sport, and often adds spice to matters commercial. United have not seen anything yet.

Piracy is a problem and if United do become wildly popular, it will be interesting to see how many of the shirts worn by their Indian fans are genuine.

Infrastructure is another big hurdle. United will want to play matches in big, safe stadiums, such as Bombay's Wankhede cricket ground. If so, they should bear in mind the control that the Indian cricket authorities exert over their properties - and their ruthlessness.

When Kapil Dev opted to back the Indian Cricket League this year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which was promoting the rival Indian Premier League, another Twenty20 competition, stopped his pension. This was the player who captained India to their only cricket World Cup success in 1983. The Indian establishment will be not overawed by men such as David Gill and Malcolm Glazer.