harsha bhogle

Harsha Bhogle: Don’t marry a fan

​“I remember telling Rahul many years ago, `Rahul, do any thing, don’t marry a fan’. You must have someone who’ll tell you when you are doing something wrong. That you were arrogant that day. You were insensitive that day. But if you marry a fan, who’s going to tell you that? “

—Harsha Bhogle.

Does the IPL even deserve Harsha Bhogle (or Gavaskar)?

Harsha Bhogle is being missed.

That’s what tweeting followers and the man himself would have us believe.

It’s true, I guess.

While Bhogle is always entertaining, always suave, always smooth and always different from former players turned microphone wielders, the IPL  is not where he has the best impact.

It’s bizarre but while he’s missed, he’s not. There are just too many things to distract television viewers.

The BCCI, in all its wisdom, dropped Bhogle and the other wise man of Indian cricket, Sunny Gavaskar from its list of approved commentators.

While there’s been an uproar about Bhogle’s sacking , there’s been nothing said about Gavaskar’s exit. Probably because the great man was earning more—much more—than any of the other commentators and it could be explained away as a cost-cutting measure.

Bhogle’s absence, however, has the conspiracy theorists out in full force.

Amitabh Bachchan photographed by Studio Harcourt Paris Français : Amitabh Bachchan photographié par Studio Harcourt Paris Harcourt Paris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bhogle got on the wrong side of Amitabh Bachchan whose tweet questioning the nationalistic credentials of Indian commentators was enthusiastically endorsed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

And Bhogle’s comments during India games have ired the Indian dressing room.

It’s strange, really.

These speculations would have been more believable had N Srinivasan still been heading the BCCI. Dhoni was purportedly his blue-eyed boy.

But those days are past or aren’t they?

And why is it that the BCCI still decides who should commentate on India games?

Can their ‘employees’ really provide unbiased views about their paymasters? That’s hardly credible much as Ravi Shastri and his ilk might protest otherwise.

Ravi Shastri, former Indian cricketer. 4 Test series vs Australia at Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It would be best if broadcasters were to select and pay cricket experts themselves.

Why have cricket boards have any say in the matter?

Viewers, too, shouldn’t have to second-guess the experts.

Harsha Bhogle: Ageing boxer

Dhoni is the ageing boxer who knows the script but does he have the punch?

—
Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 23, 2016

Harsha Bhogle: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

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What he said:

“They are trying to be half-hour players; but for that, you’ll need to first be a good four-day player!”

Harsha Bhogle believes that T20 players have to be good at the longer formats first.

What he really meant:

“Longer version players can always adapt to the shorter version of the game. Vice-versa not quite!”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Half-an-hour of T20 and IPL will keep the selectors at bay.”

Could Murali Kartik have made a difference to India’s World Cup campaign?

Image via Wikipedia

For Indian cricket fans who prefer to catch World Cup updates on the telly rather than on the internet, there exists one show that differentiates itself from the rest.

It is CNN-IBN’s Kings Of Cricket—featuring Sir Vivian Richards, Imran Khan, Allan Border, Chris Cairns, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Abbas, Murali Kartik, Kirti Azad and Harsha Bhogle.

The term ‘Kings Of Cricket’ is apt when applied to Richards,the original Khan,Allan Border and maybe even Anil Kumble. The former three are legends of the game and  have played in and/or captained World Cup winning sides.

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