Ravi Shastri: Commentator extraordinaire

Why do we hate the present crop of commentators? There might be a lot of reasons, some very valid and some not. Personal opinion is that the level of commentary might have fallen below the mark but not to the level discussed on various public platforms. Technology is probably the main culprit with a bit (more than just a bit) of help from Shastri in making the commentary a below average affair. How is the technology responsible? One may ask.

Radio Days :

During the good old days, all a viewer needed was to know the score and a little insight into how the game was being played. As a commentator, all one had to do was recite the scorecard, name the bowler and the batsman, after each ball was bowled, explain the shot and before one could finish that the next ball would’ve been bowled and so on. We relied on the good old commentators for everything.

Would Shastri Survive?Absolutely. Would’ve been a rockstar with that voice.

The batsman would’ve top edged a bouncer and the ball would’ve landed straight in to the hands of the third man. He’d say “that one is huge and might just go the distance…. but he seems to have caught it. What a catch. That travelled like a tracer bullet but he seems to have plucked it out of thin air”

Viewer : aila, kya fielder tha re woh! Kiraak mama, em maina patinda?

Early TV Days :

Yes you could see the players, watch them miss a shot, bowl a full toss and get hit or fumble a catch but the replays took hell lot of a time and you still had to rely on the commentator’s words for the reaction and the cause for such brilliance. We still weren’t sure if it was Manjrekar or Jadeja, for both had white helmets and unless we watched their stance we couldn’t have said who was who.

The scorecards were shown during drinks and other breaks or after a gap of 3 to 4 overs. The commentators still told us the score and also the individual scores, told us who was batting and if it was out or not. They had something to tell the viewers and we had to depend on them for a lot of things hence never really looked in to how the quality of commenting was.

Ravi : Would’ve still been a legend. Just that half of India would’ve still thanked Manjerekar for that brilliant innings against Pakistan.

The Good Quality TV era:

We could differentiate between a Robin Singh at point and Jadeja at covers. We knew what the score was, the individual scores were shown after every over, the replays telecasted quickly. The commentators had to keep telling what the shot looked like and how he had missed the ball or tell us how quick the ball was. The LBWs were still, more often than not explained by the experts. The run outs and the stumpings were close and we took their word. They told us how the weather and the crowd was. Did the batsman edge it or did he open the face of the bat? Did he nick the ball and was there a deviation after the ball passed the bat? We were curious to know the details from the experts.

Ravi would’ve been a good commentator.

Viewer : C’mon man look at the intensity he gets in to the game. He is passionate about the game, you can feeeeel it man.

The HD Era :

The experts were replaced by HD cameras, hot spots, hawk-eyes, slow mo’s, 20 camera angles. What could the poor chaps do? The scorecard and the individual scores are shown on the bottom of the tv screens. After every delivery the speeds are also displayed. We know from different angles if a batsman has edged it or guided the ball. But sadly the chaps sitting up there in the commentary box have to explain it at the heat of the moment and have to pay a heavy price if they get it wrong. The viewers can cross check every statement and jump upon a wrong one. They don’t have much to comment upon other than argue about the experts who’ve replaced them.

Ravi quacks. Will he survive? Yes. Now that we’ve all the scorecards and other details we need someone or something to entertain us, someone to whom we can show case our new found expertise. We want to be the guy who knows a lot of stuff, what better way than to gloat about it in our blogs and making fun of the so called experts. Shastri becomes the famous guy we can make fun of, He is the man! The Entertainer.