Though we have many good indian commentators I have tried to select my top 5.
Navjot Siddhu:’People pelt a fruit laden tree, no one kicks a dead dog.’’Statistics are like bikinis, the smaller they are the more they reveal.’
Nuggets of wisdom?Philosophy of life?
Nah, This is Sidhuism at its best.Possibly, the most entertaining commentator in the whole of world cricket.Siddhu shot to fame in the 2000-2001 season and since then he has become the king of one-liners.The one thing with Siddhu is that he will defend his point to the death and is not a person who will mince words.Check out Extraaa Innings where he and Tony get into huge fights with Siddhu winning most of the times.However, his greatest strength is his weakness as well.Most of the times he talks endlessly and the viewer is forced to say ’Bas Kar yaar, Bas kar.’
Harsha Bhogle:The man who changed commentary in India forever, Harsha Bhogle is possibly india’s most famous commentator.This IIM graduate shot to fame in the nineties and sicne then there has been no turning back.However his tie-up with ESPN-STAR means that we get to see a lot less of him which is a definite dampner.
Ravi Shastri:One half of Shaz-Waz this former indian all-rounder possibly has the best voice among all the indian commentators.His ability to show enthusiasm during the match is infectious and his cool style also adds to his appeal.
Sanjay Manjrekar:A late addition to the indian commentary team, this former mumbai batsman, has the ability to think out of the box.Despite lacking the appeal of Shastri, Sanjay has a keen cricketing insight which adds to the experience of listening to him.
L Sivaramakrishnan and Arun Lal:LS has the longest name in the world of commentary and most foreigners more or less mess up his name.He and Arun Lal again are relatively late entrants(especially LS)but they add to the indianness in the commentary team.Not exactly the best, they aren’t exactly the worst either.
Do comment on my review