Exclusive: Interview with the Voice of sports in India, Suhail Chandhok

Having played the game of cricket in different countries and a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the Champions League T20, Suhail Chandhok was close to bag an IPL contract and play the game at the highest level. But unfortunately injuries played their part and he had to end his career. But in 2014 he became a presenter with Star Sports and since then the journey has been incredible for Suhail, who is termed as the 'voice of Kabaddi'. Suhail has been a prime face on Star Sports presenting different sports.

Here is a detailed interview with the multi-sport presenter and commentator having presented or commentated on more than half a dozen sports.

Take us through your childhood. Were you a Sports Fan since then?

I guess in India, family businesses are a norm and you could say Sport was in some sense ours. I was born into three generations of sport, motorsport to be more specific with my dad, grandad and even my grandmom being into racing & rallying and then, of course, my brother Karun, who went on to race in Formula 1. I was a part of a sporting childhood but I chose bat and ball sports along with racquet sports quite early. Cricket was one sport I started taking seriously once I captained VB Chandrasekar’s academy and with my parents were extremely supportive and I am thankful to them for the same.

My family made fun of me for playing and watching anything and everything from Asian Games Table Tennis, to every ball of a random Kenya vs Zimbabwe match to even Sepak Tekraw (Malaysian Kick Volleyball) so it’s nice that it’s so useful today when I jump between several sports as a Presenter & Commentator.

You were a part of the RCB squad. Was that like a dream come true?

Prior to the stint with RCB, I think the biggest decision I made in my life was to go to Australia. I stayed there for almost 5 years, initially completing my education and then was a playing A Grade Cricket and was a Cricket Australia Level 2 Performance Coach as well. It was a great feeling to see 2 of the girls go on to win the Women’s World Cup here in India too for Australia. And as a player, it was great to play against the likes of Dan Christian, Jason Gillespie, Ryan Harris, Shaun Tait and Darren Lehmann among others. I played 1st Grade Cricket in for South Australia and Redbacks and got the opportunity to play in Melbourne, Sydney and at the incredible Adelaide Oval. Scouts at RCB & Ray Jennings, who was a part of RCB's coaching staff noticed me and I got the call up from the franchise ahead of the Champions League T20 and was a part of the preparatory camps heading into the 2010 IPL as well. Anil Kumble was my captain there and now as we share the studio it feels like life has completed a full circle. But unfortunately, with my first major knee surgery in January 2010, I lost my contract and the ability to take a big step forward in my career and after my second ACL Reconstruction surgery in 2012, I had to call it a day.

Suhail while playing club cricket

After the injuries, what career did you decide on and what led to the job of Star Sports?

So 2013 was a tough year as I was playing first division cricket in Chennai, my hometown leading into it. It was a phase where I realised that I couldn’t pursue cricket anymore as a career and didn’t know what I was going to do in life. Strange things happened and I did a comic strip which was shared on YouTube thanks to close friends and my brother because I wasn’t keen to post it. This led to a role in a Tamil film called Veeram which was ended up being one of the biggest films of 2014 in the south. In early 2014, I was visiting Mumbai and randomly gave an audition to Star Sports when visiting their office and 3 months later got a call from them as I was shortlisted for the second round. That hurdle soon went by as well so and it suddenly felt like this 2nd innings was coming my way. It was an amazing feeling and I must say that destiny played its part.

How is it to be a part of the PKL and to be the face and voice of the league?

When I joined Star I did a show called Star Power, which was the Indian version of Sportscenter. But the show came off air and I decided to do take a chance on an opportunity with Kabaddi. A lot of people refused it at the time as it was a risky decision and nobody knew the future of the league.

I remember having a gut feeling 2 days before the league started when we saw the lights in stadium flash for the first time while rehearsing, that Pro Kabaddi was here to stay and more so after the opening game between U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers. The spirit of the players was coming alive and it was a surreal moment.

You mentioned that Kabaddi was an unknown sport to you, how did you prepare yourself before the first season?

I was unknown to the sport (apart from playing a basic version way back in school) and learnt the rules, a couple weeks before the tournament started. I chewed the brains of a former Indian Kabaddi Captain who was generous with his time, by asking him the intricate rules, strategies, the mental side of the sport from a player perspective and comprehensively understood it.

It is great to see an Indian Indigenous sport getting so much popularity and the team at Star tweaked many traditional Kabaddi rules as we brought new regulations like the 30 second time clock, Bonus point, the Do Or Die raid and made it a Television Friendly Sport which it is today. And I must say Kudos to the entire team at Star to make the sport what it is today. It was incredible when I saw a post on twitter where young people were enjoying PKL highlights in Geneva, Switzerland and it was great that the sport is reaching to such a wider audience.

How is it to conduct post-match and pre-match Interviews with Legends of the game?

It is an excellent experience. Sometimes the days are very long but at the end of the day you come back home and realise that you spent the day talking sport with legends I grew up watching and idolising and so every day is a real pinch yourself moment. Its often said that, “Find a job you love and you’ll never don’t work a day in your life,” and I feel blessed to have found work that I truly love and is an extension of who I am. And these legends, in spite of the efforts we put in, make our jobs look easy. Sangakkara, Dean Jones, Brett Lee, Anil bhai and so many others are just great individuals and it’s lovely to be able to call them friends today. There is a sense of fulfilment with the opportunity to host the IPL and ICC World Cups.

Chandhok Interviewing Sachin Tendulkar

Other than Pro Kabaddi League what’s your favourite memory of hosting an event?

There was a rain delay in last year’s IPL and we had been given a free hand by our producers to do a fill-in show. The producers told me to just enjoy it and it was really boys banter just like in a cricket dressing room with Scott Styris, Mike Hesson, Mark Waugh, Brett Lee and Dean Jones being a part of the day. We chatted cricket, we asked some cheeky questions practised slip catching with Mark Waugh, had Scotty slam a ball into Deano’s stomach and just had fun an absolute blast with it for nearly 2 hours.

It’s a great team behind the scenes to work with & every day in Live TV presents a new challenge and I really do feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work on over 7 different sporting avenues and host World Cups in multiple sports…My dream of being a cricketer changed but listening to life a little gave me a fresh one. Who knows what lies ahead...

Its a dream come true for the presenter, to work with his childhood idols

Rapid Fire

Holiday Destination- Australia

Favourite Sporting Venue- Adelaide Oval

Cuisine - Indian Chaat

Co-host -– Too hard to pick one, but since I work with her most on the English Cricket feed, Mayanti Langer

Football Club- FC Barcelona

Sporting Idol- Rahul Dravid, Justin Langer