Exclusive: Interview with Star Sports Anchor Arjun Pandit

As playing the sport for the country remains one of the biggest and brightest achievements, there are many people who want to make it big in the sports broadcasting Industry. For them the anchors of Star Sports have been one of the inspirations to look up to. One of the most famous presenters in the country is Arjun Pandit having worked on camera for more than a decade across three national channels.

The sports presenter in his exclusive interview with Sportskeeda as he discusses his childhood dreams, his college days and his journey so far in the industry.

Excerpts:

Take us through your childhood. Were you sports fan since then?

You can't really say a sports fan but I always wanted to be a football player. So generally it is said that if you know what you want to do and it naturally comes to you, you are lucky. All my life I grew up having the dream of being a professional footballer.

I started playing the sport at a very young age and I was very good at it playing several leagues as I didn’t restrict myself to school football. I was the Captain of my school team. As a result, I used to be in Boarding School in Dehradun till the 10th but then I made the decision to leave the school and do my last 2 years of schooling back in Delhi because I wanted to play 12 months of football as I was dedicated to make the sport my career.

Fortunately, I had the support of my parents. I believe that if I am a graduate today is because my mother because she asked to study before going to play and as a result of that I managed passing marks in my boards. I used to play alone in my garden for 3 hours juggling the ball or kicking it far but I enjoyed doing that.

Did that continue in your college days?

I got admission in SRCC College, New Delhi in sports quota which was a famous college in the capital for studies. I got into the Delhi University team. I failed in college and therefore decided to change my B. Com branch as didn't want to repeat a year. The provision in Delhi University was that if you're going to study at home you can clear 2 grades in 1 year which I consider my biggest academic achievement. In the 3rd year, I went to Kirori Mal College, of which Amitabh Bachchan is an alumnus because they wanted me to play football for them. The life at that college rotated between the field and Football.

What were your plans after that?

My parents knew someone at Salgaonkar football club, a Goan club, and I gave trials for them. The club selected me to represent them. I was getting paid 5000 rupees per month along with the accommodation with all other outstation players and it felt like heaven to be paid so much as it was a significant hike from a pocket money of 300 rupees.

I was coached by Savio Medeira, the current Technical Director at AIFF. But things didn’t go well there as I was among the worst players there and realised I didn’t belong there. I came back to Delhi to play senior football and I was teammates with Sunil Chettri. But then I decided to pursue MBA in England. A day before leaving to England I tore my ACL and hence couldn’t leave.

How were you introduced to Journalism?

I had an interview at ZEE Sports as they had just got the rights for Indian Football and wanted someone who knew it well. I didn’t formally take education in Journalism so I learned everything on the job. Initially, I did Voxpops but then accidentally I made my camera debut alongside my host Mayanti Langer as I was a last minute replacement for our expert who couldn’t make it to the show. They liked my work and hence decided to get me onboard for a daily sports show. I worked on a lot of tournaments related to Indian Football and commentated on it.

I decided to move to NDTV 24×7 on the sports desk where I did a morning show. I joined them ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I was in-charge of Football content there and came to know a lot of things about how the news works as it is a completely different Ball game.

What led to a job in Star Sports?

I gave an audition for the job and in late 2013 I joined Star. There were many challenges as I didn’t follow cricket closely and my Hindi wasn’t as good as it should be on camera. Initially, I did Star Power which was a daily sports show. There was an incident when I was doing a show with Manish Batavia and Aakash Chopra. India was all out for 178 and I had memorized what 178 was said in Hindi. But then I forgot it live on TV and ended up saying 'India 180 se sirf do kam par all out hua'. It was difficult for the experts to control their laughter at that very moment. As I did a lot of shows gradually my Hindi improved.

Can you elaborate your journey at Star?

After Star Power, I moved to the Football team before the start of the inaugural season of Indian Super League. To be honest I was criticized by a lot of people and was out of the Football team by the end of 2016. It was a difficult phase but that’s when our content head took a punt and inducted me into the Cricket team, I did a lot of non-live shows for them. I started doing live shows for Hotstar and did 3 shows per match for them.

What’s your preparation before the show?

I changed my routine three years ago. Previously I used flood myself with knowledge but now I listen to music and talk to people and avoid cricket 3 hours before the show. My big break came when I covered the Champions Trophy 2017 from England and enjoyed it.

How is it to conduct post-match and pre-match interviews with legends of the game?

I have worked with Gavaskar, Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Sehwag and love working with them. I tune very well with Aakash Chopra as he good expert to host with him being a seasoned television expert. VVS Laxman and Harbhajan have a very good sense of humour. All these legends make me comfortable when though they have no reason to do it.

What would you like to learn from your co-anchors?

Jatin has been very good with the experts off-camera and hence that is mirrored on-camera as well. He knows the game inside out and that is why the experts value him. We hear the entire conversations from the PCR (Production Control Room) and I must say he is very good at negating that. Same with Mayanti Langer. She has been re-inventing herself and that is why she isn’t boring in spite of so many years on camera.

Last season you were a part of the IPL coverage, how was that experience?

I remember a day prior to the first match I came to know that I will be doing the Hindi show in the studio as Jatin was asked to go to Wankhede. I was nervous as I knew a lot of people will be watching purely because they will tune in to see what Star will be doing after bagging the broadcast rights. It was a good job anchoring the show with experts like VVS, Akash, Kaif, Irfan. It was hectic travelling around the country for 50 odd days but it was it was a very good experience.

What’s is the message you would like to give to the young aspirants?

I get many messages on Social Media. I will be advising the young generation that don’t come into broadcasting with the only aspiration of being on camera. If you want to be on-camera understand what goes behind the scenes.

Rapid Fire

Holiday Destination- South Korea

Favourite Sporting Venue- Ambedkar Stadium

Cuisine- North Indian Cuisine

Favourite Host- Gaurav Kapur

Football Club- Arsenal

Sporting Idol- Denis Bergkamp