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The Twitterverse has been abuzz ever since it was revealed that Harsha Bhogle would not be part of the commentary team for the ongoing Indian Premier League. Although no clear reason has been given for the veteran commentator’s exclusion from the commentary panel for the tournament, of which he has been pretty much a fixture in the past, speculation is rife – reasons for his dismissal include an online disagreement with MS Dhoni and Amitabh Bachchan about Indian commentators needing to talk more about Indian players and off the field/commentator’s box arguments and disagreements. Whatever the reason, a large number of cricket followers have switched to their default mode on Twitter (Outrage, in case you aren’t aware), and have been calling for the man to be brought back into the commentary box for IPL 2016. There’s even a Twitter hashtag going around – #BringBackHarsha. (Fixtures | Squads)
I beg to differ from these worthies. I don’t think Harsha Bhogle should be brought back to the IPL commentary team. It is not because I think he is a bad commentator – he is easily the best Indian cricket commentator we have seen for the last couple of decades. Or because I think the BCCI was right to remove him from the panel (the reasons themselves are so unclear that one cannot take a stance on them).
No, the reason why I don’t want Harsha Bhogle back in the IPL commentary is the same reason why I would not approve anyone serving fine wine at a fast food restaurant – he is not a good fit, and is, if anything, too good for the rabble rousing jabbering that passes for commentary at the IPL. If that sounds harsh (something Harsha can seldom be accused of himself), then beg your ears’ pardon and subject them to the commentary that is coming forth from the Bhogle-less IPL commentary box.
READ: I hope my IPL omission isn’t because cricketers complained: Bhogle
What one has so far been getting are metaphors that are more mixed than a call for a single by Inzamam-ul-Haq, more adjectives in a minute than Sachin hit hundreds in a career, verbal cheerleading of the tournament that makes its TV ads appear like serious documentary films, and non-stop chatter that seems right out of a rappers’ studio. One of the gems that has already issued forth was “1992 mein maine Jonty Rhoses ko udte hue dekha tha…unhone flying saucer ki tarah run out kiya tha…” (Loosely translated: “I saw Jonty Rhodes flying in 1992. He ran a player out like a flying saucer”). All this at volumes that vary from the loud to the shrill.
The more I heard the commentary of the current IPL, the more I admired Harsha for managing to blend into this “noise” (there is no other word for it) without compromising his own performance. And to be brutally honest, the less I missed him. It was a bit like seeing Sunil Gavaskar playing a one-day match – everyone thought he would not fit in but he still managed to play the shorter version very well indeed. But for most cricket followers, watching him wear down an attack and then take it apart with the skill of a surgeon was infinitely preferable to seeing him try cross-batted slogs. To use another metaphor, we do love Robert Galbraith thrillers, but they are not a patch on JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, are they?
READ: Harsha taken off air without reasoning
Of course, the defence for the current IPL commentary will be that it is meant more for entertainment than for information (I do apologise for making Richie Benaud turn in his grave by making that assumption), and that the IPL is as much a festival as it is a cricket tournament. Well, then honestly, it is a place for actors and celebrities (both real and wannabe) and not a serious commentator.
And while I may not agree with everything he has said or written since that day when I heard his voice adding an Indian perspective to the commentary during the 1991-92 tour of Australia, only the criminally insane from a cricketing insane would accuse Harsha of frivolity (the odd foot-shake to ‘Champions’ during the recent World Twenty20 notwithstanding). In many ways, Harsha Bhogle is the closest thing we have had to a Henry Blofeld in the commentary box in India – warm, humorous and as comfortable with viewers and listeners as with the sport and players he covers. He could have got a cushy job but followed his love for the sport, going through All India Radio and Doordarshan (and they can be tough, heartbreaking places for a young commentator) to become one of the most respected – and more importantly, loved – voices in Indian cricket today.
READ: Harsha responds to criticism by Bachchan Sr and MS Dhoni
If this is how the authorities choose to treat him for whatever reason, then I really do believe they don’t deserve him. While the decision is sure to have had an adverse financial impact on Harsha himself, I really think cricket commentary as a whole will benefit by having Harsha commentate in matches that bear greater resemblance to the Gentleman’s Sport than a WWE edition of it. So, don’t bring back Harsha. He is too good for the IPL. Save him for better things. Like Test Matches. ODIs. And proper T20 internationals. Don’t reduce him to an accompaniment to what passes for commentary in the current IPL.
So #DontBringBackHarsha. Not unless it is accompanied by not just an apology but a complete recast of the commentary box, making it more about cricket and less about a comedy circus. The man deserves no less. And if the show goes on without him, so be it. We will love and respect him no lesser and will savour his words all the more in other tournaments and matches.
In the long run, the IPL’s loss will cricket commentary’s gain.
