The growing popularity of Hindi commentary in cricket

Almost a year ago Star Sports launched Hindi presentation

If you are a fan of text book commentary, you might argue, English commentary is better than Hindi and it has better talent.

But hold on! It is Hindi commentary which has huge numbers and editorially, completely independent from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Also, it brings huge subscription revenues to Star Sports Network.

So if you love having options, then which cricket commentary is better – Hindi or English?

The BCCI produces the world feed and hires English commentators. And there are strict dos and don’ts for English commentators.

Since BCCI produces this content, they won’t let English commentators criticize them or their policies. The English commentary team is reportedly barred from criticizing Indian team selection, advocating decision review system and discussing about the BCCI’S administrative affairs.

BCCI directly controls English feed

Also, English presentation is world feed; it is produced with a London and Chennai viewer in producers’ mind at the same time. So, some may call it quality commentary, but it is, what some fans call, text book style, flat, uni-linear, one-dimensional commentary which has no customization for Indian viewers. It is a caged parrot.

Hindi commentary may sound less telling and funnier to some cricket viewers, but it is Star India’s own production, editorially completely independent from BCCI and Hindi commentators are not subject to BCCI’s terms and conditions. In support of DRS you may have heard Siddhu saying ‘Teesra umpire tamasha dekhne ke liye nahin baitha hai, takneek ka istemaal hona chahiye.’ (third umpire should not be an onlooker, technology should be used).

And only in Hindi commentary box a commentator can use Mumbai cricket terminology and say a skying ball ‘patang udavne ’. Sourav Ganguly is even of the view that the reach of Hindi commentary deep into the heart of India will help unearth fast bowlers from the rustic population.

Guru of Hindi combox: you may dismiss his commentary but he has huge fan following

Earlier, Hindi commentators were asked to call the game off the ground, watching it on TV. Great commentator Jasdev Singh rejected a lucrative offer from a sports channel; he simply said how can a commentator describe a game off-ground.

But with the separate presentation, video feed is customized with what Hindi commentators are discussing in the commentary box. It has improved the quality of Hindi commentary and good commentators are no more reluctant to enter Hindi combox.

Almost a year ago, when Star Sports launched separate Hindi presentation; which means separate graphics, commentary, production and pre-post match shows, few people had the idea that separate Hindi presentation was going to be the next big thing in cricketcasting.

Inspired by its success, Star went on to add Hindi feed to English Premier League, Indian Badminton League and tennis Grand Slams are next in the line.

Other channels soon followed this trend; however they were not willing to invest as bravely as Star did.

In a bid to distribute its new channel Sony Six on the back of Hindi commentary and keep Hindi commentary cost as low as it can be, Multi Screen Media, which airs Sony Max and Sony Six, hired 6 Hindi commentators for IPL and asked them to do the commentary from their Mumbai studios!

Star has used Hindi cricket feed to get uniform distribution of its SD channels

This move back fired, and MSM was criticized for their ‘IPL Hindi commentary’ on social media. The rule is simple – you can’t throw anything in the name of Hindi commentary.

English commentary has been a big deterrent in the growth of sports in India. Sports channels aired what they got as world feed without any customization for Indian viewers, simply because it is cheaper and easier, but with the huge DTH density in rural India and digitalization in urban India, they have subscription revenues in their pockets to bet big on Hindi even if advertisers are not willing to give it a go.

Though not confirmed, but if sources are to be believed, for non-English speakers Tamil and Bangla commentaries on Star Vijay and Jalsha Movies are up next, as early as ICC World Cup 2014.

At the moment, India seems to be enjoying the commentary, unfortunately, in only one Indian language, Hindi and Star Sports is saying ‘Jo baat Hindi mein hai kisi aur mein nahin.’