Commentators/experts who provide value-added information

[tiger_khan]

Organized coaching is not readily available in Pakistan.

My generation learned a lot about cricket by listening to tips given by Tony Greig, Ian Chapell, Bill Lawry and Richie Benaud.

Some Pakistani kids are lucky (like myself) who live in neighborhoods of the best cricket clubs of the country and are picked up by the club. Hence get into informal apprenticeship of good first-class cricketers at an early age. Nevertheless, the cricket commentators/experts paly a huge role in the development of players (who can grasp English) in a country like Pakistan.

During my playing days, I found that the opinions of the following cricket commentators/experts helped my cricket:-

- Channel 9 team
- Sky Sports team (starting from 1999)
- Sanjay Majrekar
- Ravi Shastri
- Akash Chopra articles

I never found any Pak background expert useful in this matter. Perhaps the issue is more of a linguistic one - they don't feel comfortable talking in English during a live game. However, even post-game Urdu language analysis didn't contain value-added comments, which could help you improve cricket. It could also be because by the time they started to have postgame Urdu shows, I was already a developed club cricketer and their target market was younger cricketers.

One observation of mine was that Pakistani cricket discussion shows are too long with too many advertisements in between. Even if you watch them on YT without ads, the shows objective seems to discuss more funny anecdotes of the past rather than cricket. My approach is that one or two anecdotes is OK but if I want to hear comedic stuff I rather watch a comedy show instead of cricket experts.

Nevertheless, if you are currently playing cricket and want to improve, I notice three Pakistanis who give value-added opinions.
Bazid Khan, Misbah ul Haq and Shoaib Malik. I find their comments practical, straight forward and easy to follow. Ahmad Shehzad also give good tips but you have to have played cricket to understand him. He needs to work on it. I think he has a great future as an expert but he has to elaborate a bit on his tips for younger cricketers.

Apart from the Pak experts mentioned above, I don't find anyone else helping people learn cricket.
They seem to be more involved in the politics of cricket.

Have you ever learned anything by listening to a commentator and/or an expert on TV? Who is your favorite commentator/expert?

PS: forgot to mention Geoffery Boycott. Learned a lot from his comments and applied it to my game, which produced results,

 

[RidiculousMan]

Salman Butt is a good commentator who adds value.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Moreover I think the environment in commentary and now specially in Pakistan is such that even if you're a commentator who adds value. Eventually you'll end up like your peers if you continue to commentate with them.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Watch DK analysis. Also watch Varun aaron's analysis. He has terrific insight. Sanjay bangar is decent. Ashwin is probably the most insighful cricketer i have ever seen. HE has almost turned cricket into a science.

 

[sweep_shot]

My favorite commentators of all time:

Tony Greig
Ian Bishop
Michael Holding
Mike Haysman
Nasser Hussain
Mark Nicholas
Michael Atherton
David "Bumble" Lloyd
Richie Benaud
Michael Slater
Sangakara.

 

[ElRaja]

all asian commentators are rubbish, they have annoying voices, cliche platitudes and very little sense of when not to say anything. even if they have knowledge they spout so much rubbish that i just dont have the will to listen to them with any concentration. if i could, id like to watch the games with ambient sounds only.

my top commentators for knowledge

1. punter
2. warne
3. nass
4. benaud
5. athers

 

[sweep_shot]

all asian commentators are rubbish, they have annoying voices, cliche platitudes and very little sense of when not to say anything. even if they have knowledge they spout so much rubbish that i just dont have the will to listen to them with any concentration. if i could, id like to watch the games with ambient sounds only.

my top commentators for knowledge

1. punter
2. warne
3. nass
4. benaud
5. athers

Agree.

I liked Sanga's commentary though. He was very informative.

 

[tiger_khan]

Salman Butt is a good commentator who adds value.

Salman Butt is a good analyst but gets very personal in his criticism

analysts should be calm all the time

 

[tiger_khan]

Watch DK analysis. Also watch Varun aaron's analysis. He has terrific insight. Sanjay bangar is decent. Ashwin is probably the most insighful cricketer i have ever seen. HE has almost turned cricket into a science.

Akash Chopra got into the game of analytical commentary right after retirement via cricinfo

His articles from two decades ago are very valuable for club cricketers. They are very insightful and the tips can help you get a distinct advantage over others if you are a club cricketer (batting tips).

 

[jnaveen1980]

OP is talking about improving the game based on commentary inputs. Pure commentary alone won't help you. You need actual inputs. Pakistan commentators are the least informative in this regard. He is right. Score is 120/2 run rate is 10.00 8 wickets left in hand. this is what most of the time Akram does. For a man with such a wealth of experience can do a lot more than this. Then Waqar younis despite being in Australia struggle to put a sentence together. Funnily Urooj has more insights than these experienced male commentators from pakistan

 

[tiger_khan]

all asian commentators are rubbish, they have annoying voices, cliche platitudes and very little sense of when not to say anything. even if they have knowledge they spout so much rubbish that i just dont have the will to listen to them with any concentration. if i could, id like to watch the games with ambient sounds only.

my top commentators for knowledge

1. punter
2. warne
3. nass
4. benaud
5. athers

I beg to differ

Manjrekar and Shastri are very good

Particularly, Shastri. If you are a captain of a team and need tips on strategy and field setting, his tips are valuable.

 

[Rana]

all asian commentators are rubbish, they have annoying voices, cliche platitudes and very little sense of when not to say anything

I might get torched for saying this but I think Waqar Younis isn’t the worst Pakistani commentator and is pretty decent

I like some of his game insights. He’s not a bad pitch+match reader

Wasim Akram is pure rubbish on the other hand. He’s only decent when he is genuinely vexed at Pakistan players for certain choices they make during games, that’s when he makes appropriate comments to the match.

 

[Rana]

Right now, the best you can hope for on the mic…

1. Ian Smith
2. Ian Bishop
3. Pommie Mbangwa
4. Micheal Atherton
5. Nasser Hussain

These guys are top quality.

 

[sweep_shot]

Right now, the best you can hope for on the mic…

1. Ian Smith
2. Ian Bishop
3. Pommie Mbangwa
4. Micheal Atherton
5. Nasser Hussain

These guys are top quality.

Pommie Mbangwa.

I like this guy's commentary. Forgot to add him.

Also, Simon Doull is okay.

 

[AZulfi]

all asian commentators are rubbish, they have annoying voices, cliche platitudes and very little sense of when not to say anything. even if they have knowledge they spout so much rubbish that i just dont have the will to listen to them with any concentration. if i could, id like to watch the games with ambient sounds only.

my top commentators for knowledge

1. punter
2. warne
3. nass
4. benaud
5. athers

+1

DK is a prime example of that. He is knowledgeable, but he goes on and on, often mentioning futile details, which is boring and annoying to the listener. like there is some knowledge contest between him and his fellow commentators.

Ravi Shastri is less annoying in that regard. Talks to the point by and large.

 

[Azaad]

Ian Bishop is the best of the lot! What a pleasure it is to hear him talk about cricket or commentate on a match - informative & articulate with that beautiful Carib accent

 

[sweep_shot]

+1

DK is a prime example of that. He is knowledgeable, but he goes on and on, often mentioning futile details, which is boring and annoying to the listener. like there is some knowledge contest between him and his fellow commentators.

Ravi Shastri is less annoying in that regard. Talks to the point by and large.

Yeah. I don't mind Shastri as a commentator. He is okay.

He is one of the old school commentators left.

 

[AZulfi]

My favorite commentators of all time:

Tony Greig
Ian Bishop
Michael Holding
Mike Haysman
Nasser Hussain
Mark Nicholas
Michael Atherton
David "Bumble" Lloyd
Richie Benaud
Michael Slater
Sangakara.

+1

Would add Pommie and Simon Doull (very insightful) to that list

 

[Rana]

Bottom tier, pure rubbish commentators:

1. Amir Sohail
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Russel Arnold
4. Athar Ali Khan
5. The Afghan bloke during the tri series (just blow your own horn)
6. Sana Mir

 

[sweep_shot]

+1

Would add Pommie and Simon Doull (very insightful) to that list

Yeah.

Forgot to add them.

My updated list:

Tony Greig
Ian Bishop
Michael Holding
Mike Haysman
Nasser Hussain
Mark Nicholas
Michael Atherton
David "Bumble" Lloyd
Richie Benaud
Michael Slater
Sangakara
Pommie
Doull
Ravi Shastri
Ramiz Raza (I actually do not mind him; not sure why PP hates him; LOL)
Tamim Iqbal
Tony Cozier
Bob Willis
Ricky Ponting
Shane Warne.

 

[Rana]

Salman Butt is a good commentator who adds value.

He’s an agenda merchant

In Pakistan, if you train and promote his academy (Ghani institute), he will hype you to the moon.

 

[Azaad]

Bottom tier, pure rubbish commentators:

1. Amir Sohail
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Russel Arnold
4. Athar Ali Khan
5. The Afghan bloke during the tri series (just blow your own horn)
6. Sana Mir

Remove Russel Arnold, add Wasim & Waqar and this list is sorted

 

[tiger_khan]

Bottom tier, pure rubbish commentators:

1. Amir Sohail
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Russel Arnold
4. Athar Ali Khan
5. The Afghan bloke during the tri series (just blow your own horn)
6. Sana Mir

Actually, I don't mind Amir Sohail. He sometimes says insightful things. Also, I don't know about the live coverage but Sana Mir is good when it comes to explaining what happened, in the post game shows. But she too does not have any insightful tips to improve the individual game of the viewers.

 

[Rana]

Remove Russel Arnold, add Wasim & Waqar and this list is sorted

People underestimate Waqar. I think he’s a lot better than a lot of these painda’s from India and Pakistan.

The Indian commentators are more fluent in English with a lot more control but they are sooo boring and bland. Just ruins the viewing experience with their constant call centre yapping!

 

[tiger_khan]

Yeah.

Forgot to add them.

My updated list:

Tony Greig
Ian Bishop
Michael Holding
Mike Haysman
Nasser Hussain
Mark Nicholas
Michael Atherton
David "Bumble" Lloyd
Richie Benaud
Michael Slater
Sangakara
Pommie
Doull
Ravi Shastri
Ramiz Raza (I actually do not mind him; not sure why PP hates him; LOL)
Tamim Iqbal
Tony Cozier
Bob Willis
Ricky Ponting
Shane Warne.

Honestly man, in decades of Ramiz's career as a commentator I don't remember one insightful thing mentioned by him.
But 10 o0ut 10 to him for proving every day that he has an access to a thesaurus....

 

[Rana]

Ian Bishop is the best of the lot! What a pleasure it is to hear him talk about cricket or commentate on a match - informative & articulate with that beautiful Carib accent

His strength is to create epic moments in tense, high octane matches. One of the greatest at this.

 

[AZulfi]

Yograj Singh (who coached both Abhishek and Shubhman in his academy. It shows quality and commitment) has some good cricket insights. He can be a good motivational speaker in the dressing room.. Watched some of his clips on YouTube.

 

[Major]

He’s an agenda merchant

In Pakistan, if you train and promote his academy (Ghani institute), he will hype you to the moon.

Have you seen his Ghani institute videos?

The way he speaks to players and coaches, pathetic

 

[sweep_shot]

Yograj Singh (who coached both Abhishek and Shubhman in his academy. It shows quality and commitment) has some good cricket insights. He can be a good motivational speaker in the dressing room.. Watched some of his clips on YouTube.

I see. Never heard of him.

There are many low-key coaches with great insights. They are underrated.

I personally got benefited from Bob Woolmer's coaching videos. It improved my batting against spinners when I was playing league cricket.

 

[AZulfi]

I see. Never heard of him.

There are many low-key coaches with great insights. They are underrated.

I personally got benefited from Bob Woolmer's coaching videos. It improved my batting against spinners when I was playing league cricket.

He is the father of Yuvraj Singh. Played one test for India and also acted in Bollywood movies such as 'Teen thay bhai'

 

[sweep_shot]

He is the father of Yuvraj Singh. Played one test for India and also acted in Bollywood movies such as 'Teen thay bhai'

I see.

Nice.

Looks like he coached Abhishek well.

 

[Major]

The best is Shoaib Malik and even Bazid Khan when talking in Urdu.

For these guys to be able to communicate, you need to give them a proper channel and with a host that can control the communication. I have learned alot from Shoaib Malik's analysis. The other day Malik was telling how Agha was not able to read the spinners ball from the hand, and he said you can tell this by the foot placement of the batsman.

Bazid Khan also talks alot of cricketing sense, doesnt make personal comments or over the top comments of removing the coach or captain.

The issue with Bazid and Malik is that you need a host to ask those questions, get that info out and make sure others dont interrupt. Trust me, a good host adds more value to such cricketing knowledge. I hate it when Malik starts telling jokes or stories of his past, he is not a good story teller, but when when it comes to cricket knowledging sharing, he is the best.

Zainab Abbas is a terrible terrible host, she doesnt know how to control Shoaib Akhtar who makes stupid statements and overspeaks and kills the conversation. This is why i love Fakhar.

Misbah's knowledge on field placement and bowling deliveies is great. Guy is able to judge what a bowler will do based on his field placement. As a bowler you can learn more Misbah than as a Batsman.

 

[Rana]

Yograj Singh is loose in the head! He’s decent for a net throwdown+ Bowling machine coach

No sane establishment will ever hire him to run their batting development program

 

[AZulfi]

Yograj may not be a cricket expert in the real sense but the academy (run by him and his son Yuvraj) has given several talented players to IPL including Abhishek and Shubhman.

 

[Rana]

Have you seen his Ghani institute videos?

The way he speaks to players and coaches, pathetic

He acts like he has 14000 Test runs and 11000 ODI runs.

I don’t even expect Brian Lara to give as much gyaan as he tries to do so in his arrogant manner the way he does.

 

[sweep_shot]

Honestly man, in decades of Ramiz's career as a commentator I don't remember one insightful thing mentioned by him.
But 10 o0ut 10 to him for proving every day that he has an access to a thesaurus....

I think Ramiz speaks well.

Not very insightful but a good speaker.

 

[Major]

Yograj Singh is loose in the head! He’s decent for a net throwdown+ Bowling machine coach

No sane establishment will ever hire him to run their batting development program

Man the guy scares me to the core the way he just shouts at the players.

Speaks great Punjabi, but he is too strict man..

 

[Rana]

Yograj may not be a cricket expert in the real sense but the academy (run by him and his son Yuvraj) has given several talented players to IPL including Abhishek and Shubhman.

They trained with Yograj here and there but they were not his or his academy’s products

I know for a fact that Shubman was coached/raised by his Dad who migrated into the city for his development. I listened/watched his interviews from his days emerging into the Indian team.

Abhishek has had personal mentoring from Yuvraj. I don’t think Yograj got much involved in their interaction.

 

[tiger_khan]

The best is Shoaib Malik and even Bazid Khan when talking in Urdu.

For these guys to be able to communicate, you need to give them a proper channel and with a host that can control the communication. I have learned alot from Shoaib Malik's analysis. The other day Malik was telling how Agha was not able to read the spinners ball from the hand, and he said you can tell this by the foot placement of the batsman.

Bazid Khan also talks alot of cricketing sense, doesnt make personal comments or over the top comments of removing the coach or captain.

The issue with Bazid and Malik is that you need a host to ask those questions, get that info out and make sure others dont interrupt. Trust me, a good host adds more value to such cricketing knowledge. I hate it when Malik starts telling jokes or stories of his past, he is not a good story teller, but when when it comes to cricket knowledging sharing, he is the best.

Zainab Abbas is a terrible terrible host, she doesnt know how to control Shoaib Akhtar who makes stupid statements and overspeaks and kills the conversation. This is why i love Fakhar.

Misbah's knowledge on field placement and bowling deliveies is great. Guy is able to judge what a bowler will do based on his field placement. As a bowler you can learn more Misbah than as a Batsman.

I totally agree about Malik and Bazid.

However, Zainab is in a very difficult position. Akhtar is an obnoxious guy.

I particularly have a problem when the cricket commentators like Akhtar and Dr. Nauman getting into the commercial side of cricket. Both are obsessed with producing "Products" - superstars in Pak cricket.

They have no financial background and like to get into things they don't understand. Pakistan is not a top tier cricket country. If you concentrate on making cricket superstars instead of building a structured cricket system, your superstar will always go to greener pastures where there is less pressure with equal or more payout. Mohammad Amir could be case-study of investment in superstars. PCB invested so much in his return. He made us win one big final and then left the team.

Cricket superstars are not manufactured widgets. You can't have patent or copyright on cricket stars. They can move freely from one cricket playing nation to another due to the advent of various international T20 leagues.

Pakistan need investment in its cricket structure. Superstars will come out naturally.

Former cricket legends and their entourage don't understand the economic complexities but operate under the false impression of themselves being financial experts of cricketing aspects.

 

[ElRaja]

+1

DK is a prime example of that. He is knowledgeable, but he goes on and on, often mentioning futile details, which is boring and annoying to the listener. like there is some knowledge contest between him and his fellow commentators.

Ravi Shastri is less annoying in that regard. Talks to the point by and large.

DK has a terrible voice for commentary, i find his timbre and accent jarring.

Agree.

I liked Sanga's commentary though. He was very informative.

havnt heard much of him, wouldnt be suprised if he was, but from whatever little memory i do have of him, again, not a very pleasent sounding voice.

I beg to differ

Manjrekar and Shastri are very good

Particularly, Shastri. If you are a captain of a team and need tips on strategy and field setting, his tips are valuable.

manjrekar sounds bitter a lot, even when hes not complaining he sounds negative. shastri i used to like back in the day, but his standards have slipped, maybe he offers more insight in test commentary, in t20s its just a lot of ostensibly forced enthusiasm.

fwiw i dont blame them totally, english is their second language. maybe im being unfair in that a lot of my dislike is personal, in that i just dont like most of their voices. my fav voices to listen to are isa guha, david gower, nass and ath. never needlessly excited, and just very easy on the ear.

 

[Major]

I totally agree about Malik and Bazid.

However, Zainab is in a very difficult position. Akhtar is an obnoxious guy.

I particularly have a problem when the cricket commentators like Akhtar and Dr. Nauman getting into the commercial side of cricket. Both are obsessed with producing "Products" - superstars in Pak cricket.

They have no financial background and like to get into things they don't understand. Pakistan is not a top tier cricket country. If you concentrate on making cricket superstars instead of building a structured cricket system, your superstar will always go to greener pastures where there is less pressure with equal or more payout. Mohammad Amir could be case-study of investment in superstars. PCB invested so much in his return. He made us win one big final and then left the team.

Cricket superstars are not manufactured widgets. You can't have patent or copyright on cricket stars. They can move freely from one cricket playing nation to another due to the advent of various international T20 leagues.

Pakistan need investment in its cricket structure. Superstars will come out naturally.

Former cricket legends and their entourage don't understand the economic complexities but operate under the false impression of themselves being financial experts of cricketing aspects.

I get why Nauman got fed up with Akhtar, and I can see it in this Tapmad cricket show. Akhtar has a habit of hogging the camera, over talking others, putting down any difference of opinion and than pass side remarks. Nauman got angry cause Akhtar that day was also passing side remarks, but the issue was Nauman was with foreign guests and was not gonna take it. Nauman is also an idiot aswell, i agree, so both of them fighting turned out to be good.

Akhtar lives in a city where cricket grounds and clubs are just 5 mins away from his home. He can mentor any player if he wanted to, but he is just there to sit and sprout nonsense.

Look at Yuvraj who mentored Abhishek.

As for the host, Zainab is responsible. I like how Fakhar is able to control the show and moderate it along with Akram. Akram's presence helps because he commands respect.

 

[moghul]

I like Waqar as the commentator, not afraid of speaking the truth . I was happy he very clearly pointed out the wrong decision for Fakhar in match against India . Others , particularly Waseem was trying tp keep everyone happy and was trying to remain popular with Indians .

 

[BouncerGuy]

Salman butt is not a good commentator, but his views are good when he speaks on shows and on YouTube... Misbah has same thing. He might not do justice with commentary but he is a good speaker

 

[Energy]

I liked hearing Dinesh Karthik in the Eng-India series. He was doing better than Nasser, Atherton et al in third-man and also comes across as being very technically sound. Perfect commentator for test matches.

For LOIs, I like listening to Haysman, Bishop. Sikandar Bakht is good, liked his commentary in the PSL. Wasim, Waqar are rubbish i.e. only read scorecards and don't have anything else to offer. Ramiz, Bazid, Urooj slightly better.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

From a Pakistani perspective Malik is good and Bazid isn't too bad. I feel he lacks a bit of confidence because he hasn't played much international cricket. Misbah also has some insights.

Apart from them most Pakistanis enter the commentary box or perform analysis with an axe to grind. Their commentary and analysis is driven by personal agendas and a sense of bitterness. That then pulls down their analysis.

The downturn of our cricket team is shown really well by these analysis. Take random YouTube channel of a cricketer V a Pakistani one. Indian one understands the game and talks tactics, the Pakistani one will always focus on body language, player unity and other intangibles. Tactics aren't under the scanner much.

Overall I like the Sky TV analysis in th UK. Nasser, Atherton are excellent

 

[GoogleToggle]

Athar ali khan

Solid analysis and great voice for commentary. On top of that he has the best quality that a commie need - being impartial

 

[BouncerGuy]

PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC INSTEAD OF PERSONAL REMARKS.

 

[Tera Gawaandi]

Worst is Harsha Bhogle, guy has no clue whatsoever. I just mute the TV when he comes on.

Runner up's for worst are Pommie, Arun Lal, Manjrekar and Ramiz.

Gavaskar used to be good, age has caught up to him and he is now blabbering all the time.

LaxmanSivaRamaKrishna was very insightful and entertaining. I think he did faced racism even from fellow Indians.

Then there are boring snooze-fest commentators like Arnold, Sanga, KP, Imran etc

I personally don't like accent of Karthik and Ashwin. Karthik is very likeable person though. Ashwin comes across bit uptight.

Commentators like Sohail, Doul can be good at times but sometimes they get swayed in wrong company.

Ravi Shastri is very underrated and probably best English commentator from Asia ever.

 

[RidiculousMan]

The best is Shoaib Malik and even Bazid Khan when talking in Urdu.

For these guys to be able to communicate, you need to give them a proper channel and with a host that can control the communication. I have learned alot from Shoaib Malik's analysis. The other day Malik was telling how Agha was not able to read the spinners ball from the hand, and he said you can tell this by the foot placement of the batsman.

Bazid Khan also talks alot of cricketing sense, doesnt make personal comments or over the top comments of removing the coach or captain.

The issue with Bazid and Malik is that you need a host to ask those questions, get that info out and make sure others dont interrupt. Trust me, a good host adds more value to such cricketing knowledge. I hate it when Malik starts telling jokes or stories of his past, he is not a good story teller, but when when it comes to cricket knowledging sharing, he is the best.

Zainab Abbas is a terrible terrible host, she doesnt know how to control Shoaib Akhtar who makes stupid statements and overspeaks and kills the conversation. This is why i love Fakhar.

Misbah's knowledge on field placement and bowling deliveies is great. Guy is able to judge what a bowler will do based on his field placement. As a bowler you can learn more Misbah than as a Batsman.

I agree on Malik.

Misbah has knowledge too. But his knowledge on Test Cricket is better than with T20.

Another man with good knowledge is Mr. Shoaib Akhtar. But he rarely talks without sensationalism or without self praising.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Worst is Harsha Bhogle, guy has no clue whatsoever. I just mute the TV when he comes on.

Runner up's for worst are Pommie, Arun Lal, Manjrekar and Ramiz.

Gavaskar used to be good, age has caught up to him and he is now blabbering all the time.

LaxmanSivaRamaKrishna was very insightful and entertaining. I think he did faced racism even from fellow Indians.

Then there are boring snooze-fest commentators like Arnold, Sanga, KP, Imran etc

I personally don't like accent of Karthik and Ashwin. Karthik is very likeable person though. Ashwin comes across bit uptight.

Commentators like Sohail, Doul can be good at times but sometimes they get swayed in wrong company.

Ravi Shastri is very underrated and probably best English commentator from Asia ever.

Bhogle is probably the worst to come out of India.

 

[RidiculousMan]

I think Ramiz speaks well.

Not very insightful but a good speaker.

He is alright. Not too bad, not too good.

I can listen to him. No issues

 

[RidiculousMan]

Another Pakistani Cricketer with a lot of sense and game knowledge is Sohail Tanvir. Very underrated.

I think he should try commentary.

 

[nish_mate]

Yograj Singh is loose in the head! He’s decent for a net throwdown+ Bowling machine coach

No sane establishment will ever hire him to run their batting development program

Would be a perfect fit for PCB then

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Gavaskar used to be good, age has caught up to him and he is now blabbering all the time.

Gavaskar is operating in a country with severe hallucinations that will cancel anyone who speaks out of turn against the BCCI.

So he has become quite robotic out of fear of repercussions. Shame that a man who could play fearlessly against the great Windies is reduced to being a yes man to avoid criticism.

Sometimes when he forgets about the need to be overly patriotic he still produces the odd gem.

 

[RexRex]

manjrekar sounds bitter a lot, even when hes not complaining he sounds negative. shastri i used to like back in the day, but his standards have slipped, maybe he offers more insight in test commentary, in t20s its just a lot of ostensibly forced enthusiasm.

Mark Nicholas mentioned this in several of his interviews, about how indian broadcasters don't want the Benaud style of commentary. This is what he said about his India stint in his book -

" Why don’t more commentators follow Richie’s lead? Mainly because
emulating him is impossible. Silence was among his most
effective weapons and not many producers out there want silence
anymore. During the World Cup, I got an email from the executive
producer of Star Sports that urged me to talk more. The Indian
audiences want a constant flow of stories and information, he said.
Evidence, I suppose, that the televised cricket of the moment is geared
to the values, standards and expectations of a young, social-media-
crazed audience who have no time in their lives for silences. "


Accent aside, I think an entire generation of Indian commentators have been spoiled by the no-silence directive from their TV bosses.

PS - I highly recommend reading Mark Nicholas's autobiography. He speaks in depth about the commentary scene, differences between various TV neworks, various personalities and anecdotes. Some fun insight into that whole world.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Mark Nicholas mentioned this in several of his interviews, about how indian broadcasters don't want the Benaud style of commentary. This is what he said about his India stint in his book -

" Why don’t more commentators follow Richie’s lead? Mainly because
emulating him is impossible. Silence was among his most
effective weapons and not many producers out there want silence
anymore. During the World Cup, I got an email from the executive
producer of Star Sports that urged me to talk more. The Indian
audiences want a constant flow of stories and information, he said.
Evidence, I suppose, that the televised cricket of the moment is geared
to the values, standards and expectations of a young, social-media-
crazed audience who have no time in their lives for silences. "


Accent aside, I think an entire generation of Indian commentators have been spoiled by the no-silence directive from their TV bosses.

PS - I highly recommend reading Mark Nicholas's autobiography. He speaks in depth about the commentary scene, differences between various TV neworks, various personalities and anecdotes. Some fun insight into that whole world.

Thats very interesting.

Most Indians I engage with also seem to hate the commentary style in India! I'm surprised its deliberate

 

[Kohlhaas]

CMJ, John Arlott, Brian Johnson. I’m English and old.

 

[tiger_khan]

LOL Akram his in his own zone when he is commentating.

He has few sentences memorized, which he must say. Same thing at the end of the game against BD today.

 

[tiger_khan]

Bhogle is probably the worst to come out of India.

I like Bhogle. To be fair he is not an expert but really a descriptive commentator.
He is the only one of his kind left now. All the other commentators are former professional cricketers.

For a guy who never played professional cricket his insights are phenomenal. That's why he is still in the industry despite having few confrontations with the BCCI, Indian players and celebrity actors (behind the scenes).

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Really enjoying Varun Aaron's analysis on ESPNCricinfo's Time-Out show

 

[tiger_khan]

Really enjoying Varun Aaron's analysis on ESPNCricinfo's Time-Out show

LOL you don't know what you are missing.

According to Shoaib Akhtar, today's pitch was the best pitch to bat on, in the entire tournament so far LOL

He is also saying that they shouldn't have sent Shaheen Afridi earlier. At that point of time I switched the channel LOL

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Ian Bishop

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

LOL you don't know what you are missing.

According to Shoaib Akhtar, today's pitch was the best pitch to bat on, in the entire tournament so far LOL

He is also saying that they shouldn't have sent Shaheen Afridi earlier. At that point of time I switched the channel LOL

Check out ESPNCricinfo's show. They upload videos later on their YouTube channel aswell. Their discussion focuses more on the technical aspects of the game. Today they had Wahab on too.

 

[Markhor]

Tony Cozier was a walking encyclopedia about WI cricket. If a player debuted - he'd know everything about his background from his school, coaches who mentored him, strengths/weaknesses, domestic record etc.

Until his passing he had a regular column in Cricinfo which I learned so much from.

He was from Barbados but respected across the islands for his neutrality. Of course he also had the perfect voice for broadcasting.

 

[tiger_khan]

Tony Cozier was a walking encyclopedia about WI cricket. If a player debuted - he'd know everything about his background from his school, coaches who mentored him, strengths/weaknesses, domestic record etc.

Until his passing he had a regular column in Cricinfo which I learned so much from.

He was from Barbados but respected across the islands for his neutrality. Of course he also had the perfect voice for broadcasting.

Actually I missed Tony Cozier in my original post. He was a very impactful commentator too.

 

[tiger_khan]

I get why Nauman got fed up with Akhtar, and I can see it in this Tapmad cricket show. Akhtar has a habit of hogging the camera, over talking others, putting down any difference of opinion and than pass side remarks. Nauman got angry cause Akhtar that day was also passing side remarks, but the issue was Nauman was with foreign guests and was not gonna take it. Nauman is also an idiot aswell, i agree, so both of them fighting turned out to be good.

Dr Norman in a later interview explained the situation


Akhtar was getting a monthly salary from the PTV Sports and had an in his contract that he will not be participating in any other TV channels' shows during the World Cup

Yet he went to India to have a show with Harbhajan Singh while he was getting paid for PTV Sport and when he came back he started to show attitude because this issue was raised with him. He missed the PTV Sports shows while he was in India

History is repeating itself once again

He is doing shows on two channels simultaneously. He shows attitude to Zainab on PTV Sports game on hai. Starts to claim that he's tired and why the show is going so long, on a regular basis. Right now he's sitting on another channel doing a similar show called Tamasha with Hafeez and Tanveer. The question is is he getting a salary from PTV and still attending shows on other channels. He is not attending Game On Hai...

 

[Major]

Dr Norman in a later interview explained the situation


Akhtar was getting a monthly salary from the PTV Sports and had an in his contract that he will not be participating in any other TV channels' shows during the World Cup

Yet he went to India to have a show with Harbhajan Singh while he was getting paid for PTV Sport and when he came back he started to show attitude because this issue was raised with him. He missed the PTV Sports shows while he was in India

History is repeating itself once again

He is doing shows on two channels simultaneously. He shows attitude to Zainab on PTV Sports game on hai. Starts to claim that he's tired and why the show is going so long, on a regular basis. Right now he's sitting on another channel doing a similar show called Tamasha with Hafeez and Tanveer. The question is is he getting a salary from PTV and still attending shows on other channels. He is not attending Game On Hai...

Na, that show is being run by Tapmad i think the one on PTV.

But he is one weird individual.

 

[Major]

Tony Cozier was a walking encyclopedia about WI cricket. If a player debuted - he'd know everything about his background from his school, coaches who mentored him, strengths/weaknesses, domestic record etc.

Until his passing he had a regular column in Cricinfo which I learned so much from.

He was from Barbados but respected across the islands for his neutrality. Of course he also had the perfect voice for broadcasting.

now compared that to Rameez Raja and Wasim Akram on our Pakistani players.

 

[tiger_khan]

Na, that show is being run by Tapmad i think the one on PTV.

But he is one weird individual.

Tampad show is via PTV - Zainab hosts it

I don't know what channel is Tamashah show. It is hosted by tall young guy with beard, who used to host to host Game On Hai in the past.

Akhtar was sitting there in the pregame show today. Other panellists were Hafeez, Sohail Tanveer and Sana Mir.

Akhtar was not seen in the Tampad/PTV show today but Misbah, Malik and Bazid were still there.