Sports anchoring in India: the knowledge vs looks conundrum

Mandira Bedi presenting cricket

The first link that pops up in the search results on typing “sports anchors in India” is “Hottest women sports anchors in Indian television.” Once the initial anger on these sexist results have worn out, the actual search leads one to simple question: What are the criteria to become a sports anchor in India?

“Knowledge and spontaneity are the most important criteria to become a successful sports anchor in India,” says Archana Vijaya, cricket commentator for Neo Cricket and who also anchored for many editions of the Indian Premier League.

In order to answer the question of criteria, we need to look at several aspects of sports anchoring. The most important factors are knowledge, command over the language, stage presence and spontaneity. Unfortunately, these, which are the most important aspects, are almost always ignored or not paid much importance. The sports channels have set a trend with their “looks-TRP” correlation, giving more importance (or almost always) to the appearance factor.

The looks-TRP correlation:

“Our wrap-up show on DD, Fourth Umpire, has the same TRP ratings as that of the live cricket telecast. And that’s quite phenomenal,” said Roshni Chopra, former Fourth Umpire anchor to The Telegraph in 2005. The Telegraph described her as ‘model turned-actor turned-cricket eye candy.’ She is a good example to show the correlation between appearance and the ratings.

This was just the beginning of the trend. With the introduction of many other sports channels came a witch-hunt for anchors to host pre and post-match shows. A host of anchors came to the lime light following this, a few really talented ones and a few good looking ones.

Mandira Bedi, an actress turned cricket anchor created quite a bit of a controversy, what with her glamorized designer sarees and her stunning looks. Cricket knowledge or not, she was able to attract the audience, eventually increasing the ratings.

“For a cricket lover, what matters is the way they are able to steer arguments in the show and the input they give to both the show and the people who are watching it. Anchoring has got nothing to do with sex. There is no objection to a women being an anchor. But there is definitely an objection to the way she is dressed. ,” says Bhuvana Kumar, an ardent cricket fan for over 40 years.

“The sports fans would tune in anyway. But, the way the shows are being packaged these days, especially in India…evidently, the producers and the sponsors are not happy with catering to just the sports fans. They see the potential in a product like T20 cricket to capture the imagination of casual fans, and even non-fans” says a veteran sports journalist on the dressing sense of anchors in shows.

The bridge between experts and spectators

Sports anchors are essentially the bridge that connects the experts and the spectators. Gaurav Kapoor, IPL anchor and presenter said to Indian Express, “I strongly believe that one should host a particular game only when one has some sort of interest in it. All of us who are hosting are those who have either played cricket or been keenly interested in the game.”

But is this interest for the game enough for them to understand technical aspects of the game? Or to put forth interesting and relevant questions?

IPL 6 saw some mindboggling dumbness on the part of the anchors. It started with “Did you do shopping” and went on to “Who is the taller of the two of you.” It was unsettling to see these dumb questions being put forth by the anchors standing in the dug outs and in the side of the stadium, having had the opportunity to witness some of the finest performances and to interview few of the greatest players of Indian cricket. As the only source by which people get to know about the players’ reactions and mind sets during and post-match, this came as a great disappointment.

The greats in the scenario:

While on one side, there is this “looks vs knowledge” debate, the other side is unbelievably contrasting. There is Vijay Amritraj, Harsha Bhogle, Anjum Chopra, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Wasim Akram, players and experts, who take the world by storm by anchoring some of the most viewed shows in Indian sports scenario.

Anjum Chopra pulls off the most stunning of panel discussions in a coat and a suit, her inputs adding a lot of value to the debate in going forward with the match. These greats have carved a niche for themselves and it is not their looks that have made them reach the pinnacle of their career.

“It is also about the experts you have on the show. Some of them are so professional that they make even the mediocre anchor look good; say, by skilfully directing the conversation to the questions that ought to be asked but remain unasked, and addressing them,” saya a veteran sports journalist.

On the other hand, there are cricketing greats like VVS Laxman and Gary Sobers who are brilliant at the game but need to tap on their ability to speak with confidence and charm to make it work.