Commentators killing the game of Cricket

As a kid, I loved waking up at 4:00 in the morning to watch cricket matches happening in Australia. More than the match itself, it was the voice of Richie Benaud that captivated me to wake up so early. Then there were Bill Lawry, Tony Greig, Geoff Boycott and Michael Holding and India’s Harsha Bhogle. However, if you look at the current crop ignoring the people left from the above list, it is abysmal. It is badly partisan, devoid of any analysis and insights that I feel like watching the matches on mute. I want to explain this using the latest India versus Australia series which is currently in progress.

Cricket is a spectator sport and spectators love to see passion. What the spectators also love to see is sportsmen get along well outside the field. The comradarie between Vivian Richards and Ian Botham, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh, Virat Kohli and Dale Steyn are few that come to my mind immediately. These are people who play with passion and leave everything on the field. The incident between Steven Smith and Virat Kohli is one such as well. It makes the game more exciting, passionate and driven. There is a clear line where members get physical or there is a case of cheating. No such incident actually happened.

As I say that about players no one wants to see commentators fighting over incidents like this. It is like going to a boxing match and end up watching the support staff fight. It is not interesting and doesn’t add any value to anyone. This is exactly what happened when Sunil Gavaskar and Ian Healy started talking. Both of them took sides of their respective home countries. The worse part of the defense was when they claimed their side to be totally innocent and the opponent totally corrupt. Firstly, both of them are well respected cricketers to behave in such childish fashion. Secondly, assuming they are paid to do this so that they can increase their ratings, it doesn’t work. It only drives people away.

I want to see non-partisan insights about the game. I know such commentators are few and far but the media outlets should at least try. Unless the intention is to kill the sport, they are not doing it right. Not all ex-cricketers are great commentators. Commentators should be non-partisan, have good understanding of the game and above all decent communication skill. Till this situation changes, I am going to watch the matches on mute.