“Cricket is a religion in India”, I think this is one of the most spoken lines in the media in last three to four decades and I don’t see anything wrong in that. Cricket is loved so much in India that it is really an unofficial religion.
But let’s talk about the audience. None of us in the world understands cricket right from the day we are born. We get to learn about it from the storytellers and these storytellers can be your family members, maybe it’s your father, your brother or those commentators who you love listening to.
These commentators and speakers play a huge role in building up the cult of cricket in our minds. You know, Tony Greig has a small role in making Sachin’s Sharjah innings so special. The ultimate commentary he did, (Sachin Tendulkar, what a player!) just makes us filled with energy everytime we watch it.
And so one of the most respected person in the cricket fraternity by the people is Harsha Bhogle. Well, he is not a cricketer. He is just a guy who loves the sport and loves talking about the sport.
Gaurav Kapur once narrated an incident where Ajay Jadeja once said that if we are debating about a topic in cricket and on one side we are having a great cricketer and on the other side if we have Harsha Bhogle then maybe people will listen to Bhogle’s opinion. That is the level of trust people have in him. But there is something in him that makes people trust him.
One thing we can, of course say is skill. The skill he has is just great. The use of words that he does everytime is just amazing. Here are some examples:
Image credits: ScoopWhoop
He has a great knowledge of the sport. The way he explains everything, we watch on Cricbuzz and other shows is really loving. He even keeps himself updated about what’s happening in the sport all around the world. I remember before the IPL 2020 he said that Devdutt Padikkal is a very talented player from the domestics and the way Padikkal performed in the IPL was great. So he keeps himself updated not only about the international arena, but also about the domestic cricket.
But this was all about his skills and many people have those skills but what makes Harsha Bhogle special? Why is he the most loved cricket speaker?
The credit for that goes to his character. Have you ever seen him criticising any player on his performances. We have seen many other commentators do that (no offense), but we never see him do that. Now that’s what we call being a gentleman.
Another thing we love about him is simplicity. It’s because of the way he speaks and behaves giving respect to everyone he has on the show with him. Even the way he talks with us makes us feel like he is one of us. He looks so down to earth on camera.
And you know from where that respect for everyone comes? That’s because he loves his profession and he loves it. Once he said that, if he is getting paid for speaking about cricket, the thing he loves, he wants nothing more.
And as I said earlier he makes us feel like he is one of us. He creates that connect with us that makes us trust him.
And that’s what makes Harsha Bhogle: the Voice of Cricket, the most loved Cricket Speaker of India.
CRICKET TALES 