Commentary - An indispensable evil

The sports season was at its peak during January when the India-Australia series and the Australian Open were going on simultaneously. The action was captivating, to say the least, for everyone concerned save the hardcore Indian cricket team fanatics. But, there was one thing that was common to both these sporting events and that was sub-standard commentary.

It was cliche ridden and has been the butt of ridicule amongst most in the fraternity. The word ‘terrific’ was done to death and there were instances when Ganguly would go “That was a terrific shot by a terrific batsman”. Ravi Shastri was, needless to say, obsessed with a few sentences that he would unfailingly repeat every other over … “That was a tracer bullet … That was a scorcher … That’s what the doctor ordered … The new ball will be crucial … The old ball will be crucial”

Harsha Bhogle was missed. He himself has his set of cliches but, he at least keeps digging in from his treasure trove of information and keeps the audience hooked with his pace, wit, intellect and fluency. Bhogle is someone who enjoys the job that he is doing and it shows. Gavaskar was surprisingly missing and the paid propagandist of the BCCI was busy bashing the Indian players on NDTV. Times change. Just a few favors from the BCCI and Sunil will be back along with his buddy Shastri to sing hosanas of the board.

The fare during the tennis matches wasn’t any better. Alan Wilkins and Vijay Amritraj were the culprits. While one is a total stranger to tennis, the other was only partially better even after his vast playing experience. The remote was on mute mode on several occasions. These men just didn’t have the class. The foreign commentators who were doing their job during the day session were much, much better. Come the night session and we’ll have these 2 men strutting their stuff with the same monotony.

Wilkins kept vomiting some stats of the past legends that the computer gives with unerring accuracy. Amritraj let his excitement take control on a few occasions and gave a rude shock to viewers who were immersed in the point. He is also a big time supporter of Nadal and on many occasions during the Federer semifinal match he was childish in his support for Rafa. As the banner on court from the Swiss fans said “Genius at work”, Vijay retorted “We have another genius from Spain at work” … Fans talk like this not, professionals.

The heart cries for some class in the commentators box or atleast let the parent TV network have sole control of the commentators’ choice. The network that handles the Indian coverage, steps in and spoils the fun for the viewers with its choice of men. Pretty sure that Channel 9 or the network that produced the Aussie Open coverage, must have had an enviable lineup of commentators.

Alas, it was not possible to keep the remote on mute for too long. Sound increases depth of the viewing experience as everyone knows and it had to be brought back on. And with it, so was the commentary and the likes of Ganguly, Shastri, Wilkins and Amritraj … Commentary has truly become an indispensable evil. One can’t afford to go to the stadium every single time, can we?