Function template with pointers inside

Question

I have the following function which creates a 2D array

double** createMatrix(int r, int c)
{
    double** matrix = (double**)malloc(r * sizeof(double*));
    if (matrix) {
        for (int i = 0; i < r; i++) {
            matrix[i] = (double*)malloc(c * sizeof(double));
            if (matrix[i]) {}
            else {
                printf("Memory not allocated.\n");
                free(matrix[i]);
                exit(0);
            }
        }
    }
    else {
        printf("Memory not allocated.\n");
        free(matrix);
        exit(0);
    }
    return matrix;
}

I want to define a template for this function allowing it to create a matrix of generic type but this seems not working:

template <typename T>
T** createMatrix(int r, int c)
{
    T** matrix = (T**)malloc(r * sizeof(T*));
    if (matrix) {
        for (int i = 0; i < r; i++) {
            matrix[i] = (T*)malloc(c * sizeof(T));
            if (matrix[i]) {}
            else {
                printf("Memory not allocated.\n");
                free(matrix[i]);
                exit(0);
            }
        }
    }
    else {
        printf("Memory not allocated.\n");
        free(matrix);
        exit(0);
    }
    return matrix;
}

where is the problem?