Varma S: Celebrity Commentators - Donning a New Cap (16 Jan 95)

Television/Celebrity Commentators: Donning a New Cap - Sanjeev Varma

When Sunil Gavaskar talks cricket, you listen. When others do, you fret and sulk. And then sulk some more. Good commentators can make for Elysian entertainment; the less accomplished can turn an exciting day`s cricket into drudgery.

Inept commentators have been testing our patience and resolve much too long. But with exteemed Indian cricketers starting to wield the microphone after putting away the willow, the luck of the harried cricket buff may be turning. Emulating Australia`s Channel Nine and the BBC, Indian television too is increasingly assigning cricket commentary to men in flannels who have done the country proud.

There are no stirring figures in the Indian commentary box just as yet; certainly no one of the stature of Richie Benaud, with his definitive and laconic comments delivered from the corner of his mouth, or the Welsh wizard Tony Lewis, orating with marvellous felicity, but there are definite signs of change.

The cricket season this year demonstrated the broadcasting prowess of Ravi Shastri. The accomplished opening batsman, who had been oddly dubbed aloof and arrogant during his playing years, has revealed an ability to communicate easily and intelligently; some experts are of the view that he should still have been at the top of India`s exciting but often brittle batting line-up.

A variety of reasons, not the least of all some undeserved public scorn, find Shastri, always the cerebral cricketer, wearing an expert`s cap a trifle too soon. Much too soon for those who grew up listening to the perennially intoxicated drawl of Lala Amarnath and thought there was a law preventing cricketers under 70 from turning commentators.

In Shastri`s case, though, you could say that cricket`s loss is television`s gain. To be sure, some cricketers take to the art of commentary with characteristic ease; some don`t and some others won`t. Listening to Gary Sobers, Glenn Turner and Ravi Shastri on Doordarshan this season you realised that cricket commentary in good hands can be arresting. But there were others to underscore the fact that not all cricketers can be expected to be natural broadcasters.

Kapil Dev, For instance. With the exception of the new Sherrif of Bombay, India has not produced a worthier cricketer. But for all his stunning exploits on the cricket field, it is clear to everyone that Dev should stay away from the microphone. He is inarticulate in any language and is given to much ballyhoo and banality. Ditto Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Dilip Vengsarkar. Given their rich cricketing experience, they must surely be excellent analysts of the game, but they singularly lack the gift of communicating easily. As did Bishen Singh Bedi, one of the best cricketing brains, although in his case part of the problem is his inexplicable Texas-Patiala accent.

Other cricketers who have failed to impress as broadcas- ters include M.L. Jaisimha, Chandu Sarwate, Syed Kirmani, Akash Lal (his accent defies description), Chetan Chauhan, Mohinder Amarnath (who was one of India`s most exhilarating batsmen) and Farookh Engineer.

On the other hand, Arun Lal, formerly Delhi`s and now Bengal`s stalwart, has an easy eloquence. Lal scored runs prodigiously in domestic cricket but despite numerous opportunities failed to measure up to the rigours of Test cricket. In his broadcasting incarnation, the bearded Lal has revealed inventiveness and versatality, even matching Henry Blofeld`s loquacious banter.

Gavaskar, Shastri, Lal and proven commentators like Tiger Pataudi and Abbas Ali Baig could make a high-powered team that would command attention and make cricket on television a pleasur- able experience. After all, part of the joy of watching cricket on Australia`s Channel Nine is in following the ebb and flow of a cricketing day in the company of an outstanding team of commentators led by Richie Benaud, with Frank Tyson, Ian Chappel, Greg Chappel, Keith Stackpole, Bill Lawry and the towering Tony Greig, usually the master of ceremonies.

With shrewd tapping of broadcasting talent among cricketers, happy days may be round the corner for those to whom cricket means a little more than men in flannels excercising in the sunshine.

Source :: Business India, Jan 16-29, 1995