He is no film star, no politician, no social worker and no religious guru. But, with a Twitter following of 4.47 Million and counting, he is far more popular than many known celebrities.
The first time one heard him was from distant shores, from
down under. A country where Indians had not yet made their mark.
This was also the era when television had not got its
foothold in India. One still listened to Radio commentary to follow cricket.
In the midst of heavy Australian accent, where Sachin was
pronounced as “Sah shin”, where Kapil was “Kha pil”, one voice stood out.
No, this was no quintessential Indian accent. It was smooth.
No, there was no flaw in the understanding of the game. The nuances of the game
were getting beautifully elucidated.
And, the minute you heard this voice, you realized one
thing. This voice was in love with Cricket. A voice that must have breathed,
lived and dreamt cricket from childhood.
The English was impeccable, the diction flawless, the match
description lucid.
With India’s rise as a cricketing nation rose this voice.
This was a voice that shared with us India’s exploits abroad, the rise of the
Fab Four, a voice that shared the angst of match fixing, the pain of the 2007
world cup debacle, India’s rise as a T20 force, India’s famous world cup win,
the exit of the Fab four and also the rise of IPL.
We are talking about the Big B of Cricket Commentary, Harsha
Bhogle, a commentator par excellence.
There would be very few sports fans who have not gained from
the fine understanding of sports that he brought.
There are many ways of describing Tendulkar’s greatness,
Dravid’s Resoluteness, Laxman’s Silkiness, Kumble’s lion heartedness, but none
would match the fluidity of Harsha’s words.
And, for reasons, best known to only some, he was
inexplicably dropped from the Commentary team.
While sports aficionado’s lamented this and many a sports
fan felt let down, the youngsters did not seem to mind.
While we will never know why, we can only surmise. Did he
possibly not understand that the ground beneath him was slipping? That Cricket
was making a quick transition from the whites to the colours?
The fact that run scoring became faster, running between the
wickets faster, the bats heavier, the bat speeds faster, the grounds smaller,
the crowds smaller for the whites, money larger, sponsorships bigger?
Cricket was indeed undergoing a seismic shift.
In this era of transition from tests only to T-20’s, many a
great were cast aside. Think VVS, McGrath, Ponting, Saurav Ganguly, Brian Lara,
Dale Steyn, even SRT – many of them did not make the transition to the new
world.
They failed to adapt to the new noisy, crackling speed world
of cricket where a lot can happen in one over.
Possibly, Harsha was still steeped in the past. A world
where Mukesh and Mohammed Rafi ruled, where Prannoy Roy was heard. Little
forgetting that the young gen today listens to Arijit Singh and Taylor Swift. A
world where the aggressive Arnab rules.
But, to give credit to Harsha, he seems to have adapted.
He has understood that the audience today inhabits the social media space. Much like his idol Amitabh Bachchan had his punarjanma through Kaun Banega Crorepati,
Harsha is creating his own new avatar through Cricbuzz and other social media.
Today, the bulk of cricket is being followed on the phones,
through commentary that is written by fingers typing at lightning speed.
And, Harsha’s new avatar fits in beautifully there.
But, but, but. Therein lies the problem.
When Mr Bachchan moved from the large screen to the small,
he enlarged his repertoire to cater to families, children, audiences of all
ages. He could make a connect with a villager in Bihar with the same ease with
which he could with a socialite in South Delhi.
Here is where, Harsha seems to be getting conservative.
While he has segued beautifully into the world of the internet, he is still
batting with a straight bat, a style that might slowly get antiquated.
In Cricbuzz videos,when he speaks about the famous wins of
the late 90’s and the early years of this century, they sound beautiful. They
transform you to that era.
But, when he talks about Virat’s exploits or Quinton De Kock’s
attacking instincts, there is a discordant note. You feel you are watching the
latest Spielberg Classic in Eastman Colour. You feel a cacophony, a jugalbandi
that is producing jarring notes.
And, that is Harsha’s challenge.
Can he really emulate his idol, the Big B and win audiences
of all ages in his social network avatar?
Can he adapt to the demands of the new raucous youth?
As one of his many avid fans, I Hope he does….
