In India, cricket is not just a game, it more like a festival. Every child in India dreams to be a cricketer and take up the sport professionally. The game is itself exciting but what makes it more interesting is its commentary.
The commentators also try to entertain by narrating a few funny instances. These people play a vital role in keeping the audience engaged in between deliveries.
During the game, live score updates, description of the players, their moves, pitch conditions, stadium sceneries and gallery reactions are often discussed by the commentators. Cricket experts like Navjot Singh Sidhu and Virender Sehwag are known for their analysis with a touch of humour.
Harsha Bhogle speaks about the game with a serious and analytical touch. But commentators, while trying to be funny, sometimes say things which actually makes no sense.
Here are 5 prominent commentators and some of their comments which made no sense:
1) Navjot Singh Sidhu
Navjot Singh Sidhu is a former Indian cricketer and former member of the Indian Parliament. After retiring from cricket, he spent most of his time doing cricket commentary, on TV Shows and in Politics. Sidhu is very much popular as a commentator who speaks about the game with a great touch of humour.
The former Politician often says things which don’t really make sense. During a match, Sidhu was quoted as saying, “Ball aisi jagah lagi hai ki haddi bhale hi na toote par bande ka nuksan bahut ho jayega.” If translated, it would mean that the ball stroke in such a way that it may not break a few bones but it can surely cause a lot of damage.
Another one of his “gems” is “A fifty is like kissing a virgin. You just have to go on”. The comment was actually un-relatable, and might have confused a few listeners.
In another match, where India was playing, the former cricketer said “Balleybaaz crease ke itna bahar nikle ki Dhoni ne pehle chai pi, phir akhbaar padha aur phir jaakar stumpout kiya.” The translation meant that the batsman walked so much out of the crease that Dhoni first had a cup of tea, read the newspaper and then he stumped the player.
2) Rameez Raja
Rameez Raja is a former Pakistani Cricketer and currently a commentator. Once, while monitoring a game, Raja tried to add up a funny note within the discussion but it actually ended up becoming irrelevant. He said, “Misbah looked cool from exterior, don’t know about interior.” It was little confusing to relate “coolness, interior and exterior” with Misbah’s game-play.
Raja made another meaningless comment by saying, “Hafeez is pushing smoothly. His partner Jamshed is satisfied today.” It was very difficult to understand the meaning of this quote which seemed rather vulgar and was presented in a wrong way.
While Sidhu and the Pakistani Cricket analyst were commentating during a game, Raja said “Agar ek ya do ‘No ball’ ho jaaye aur phir six lag jaaye, toh Pakistan jeet jaayegi.,” which meant that if there’s one or two ‘No balls’ and Pakistan strikes a six, then Pakistan would win the match.
Sidhu replied to this comment by stating something along the lines that if his aunt would have a moustache then she would have been his uncle. (Ye wahi baat hui ki agar meri chachi ki moonchey hoti toh main use chacha kehta.)
3) Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly is a veteran Indian cricketer and the former captain of the Indian cricket team. Ganguly is affectionately called “Dada”. He is currently the President of the CAB and also the President of the Editorial Board with Wisden India.
Dada is popularly known for his captaincy in the Indian Cricket Team and his aggressive batting on the field. After retiring from the Indian team he took an active part in analysing the game. He is one of the best Indian commentators but even the Prince of Kolkata has said something funny which was quite irrelevant.
“Wish I was the Prime Minister of India, then I could turn a whole lot of things”, said Ganguly while in the commentary box with Harsha Bhogle and Rahul Dravid during a Test match between India and England.
Once the former Indian captain was said that only 7,653 people had turned up for the India-England tri-series in Perth by other cricket pundits. To this, he replied that, “We have that attendance in Durga puja.”
4) Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani cricketer who is nicknamed as “Rawalpindi-Express”. He is widely regarded as the fastest bowler of all time for bowling at speeds up to 161.3 km/h. After his retirement from cricket, he took up a job by becoming a commentator.
Akhtar can be compared to Sidhu when it comes to irrational statements and one such example of that is, ”Upar lagi, niche lagti toh alag masla hota,” which if translated would mean that if it (ball) touched below the point, it would have caused a major problem.
While sitting in a commentary booth with the former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, Akhtar said that it was very difficult for Pakistan to win and now all the hope lies with Afridi (Pakistan ke liye jeetna ab kaafi mushkil, sari ummeedein ab sirf Afridi pe tiki hai!).
Everyone knows the hit and miss nature of Shahid Afridi’s play and Rahul Dravid was not going to let this go by stating that the condition seems to be extremely poor since the hopes lie with Afridi (yeh toh bahut hi buri haalat hai agar ummeedein Afridi pe tiki hai!)
5) Harsha Bhogle
Harsha Bhogle is probably the most popular Indian cricket commentator. He has been seen in the commentary box since the 90s and is also referred as the voice of Indian cricket by many people.
The famous commentator once had a bit of a go at Indian player Rajat Bhatia by saying, “Any bowler has 3 pace variations- fast, medium and slow. But Rajat Bhatia has- slow, slower and slowest!”. This was a funny comment to make but Bhatia certainly isn't that slow a bowler.
In spite of all his funny quotes and comments, Bhogle is still referred as the best Indian commentator and often called the “King of the commentators” by many people. When BCCI terminated Bhogle from his position, he received a lot of support from his supporters. which included eminent personalities like Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushman Khurrana.
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