For people who have closely followed the Indian tour of the Carribean, one thing that stands out is the pathetic commentary in these matches, be it the one dayers or the first two tests.
The commentary team comprised of mediocre West Indian players alongwith an Australian and an Indian. I heralded Tony Cozier as a very good cricket commentator, but as it turned out my view was totally shattered listening to his abysmal commentary right through this tour. There were fewer fans at the ground than there were in the commentary box with Ian Bishop leading the way. It was hard to imagine the kind of praises they were lavishing upon this West indies team, which is probably the weakest among all test playing nations today, barring Zimbabwe. This was probably the weakest West indies team to have ever played test cricket. And yet we find these commentators utter things as if they were the world champions.
Commentary is about being neutral; highlighting the various aspects of the game, explaining to the viewer the technical correctness or otherwise associated with batting, bowling and even fielding. Its sad to find the commentary team comprising of no great cricketers. The name Jeremy Cooney is not a very popular name and nor Ian Bishop was a tear away fast bowler. L Sivaramakrishnan disapperared from cricket before he even got a driving license and Dean Jones is just an entertainment value. Both West Indies and India have produced some of the greatest cricketers of all times. Viv Richards, Sir Sobers, Sunny Gavaskar just to name a few. Its when you have people like these commentating you get to know the game more. The below-par and one sided commentary has really dimished the interest among viewers in India.
West Indies cricket needs a revival and one clearly understands the anxiety among their people to see their team perform well. But that must not come at the expense of cricket itself. Cometh the time when Television broadcasters identify people who can add value to the game. People like Tony Cozier who have never faced a ball in their life time cannot comment on how it is like when there is a bouncer comming at the batsman at 150 kph, nor they can comment on the stress at the ankles when a fast bowler lands on the popping crease, nor they can explain how to bowl a 'doosra'. Lets hope for a change in the remaining two tests.
3 comments:
I fully agree. The feat of Bradshaw bowling 25 over at a stretch was hearalded by the commentary team. In my opinion it was a foolish game plan to bowl one bowler oft that long risking the bowler for the next game. Also at that time what WI needed was a wicket not run containment. Bravo was hailed like a new planet discovered. He was exposed in the second test..
yes mr bala . you have seen those 25 overs i beleive..
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Is it some form of test on academic subjects and/or general questions?
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