Harsha Bhogle
Cricket commentator

Spinning words
Shooting for the ESPN school quiz is on at Noida's Eagle Studios. Quiz-master Harsha Bhogle has his hands full. But talk cricket, and he's game. A brief interlude during the shoot, plus his 20-minute lunch break are enough for Mr Motor-mouth to trace his exciting journey from childhood to chemical engineering to the commentary box…

Cricket and Me. We go back a long, long to my carefree childhood days when, as a member of Hyderabad Public School's junior cricket team, I fantasized about make it to the Indian team someday

Oh yes, those were the days. Sunday meant playing league cricket with pals at the local ground despite the scorching sun. And even if I ended up scoring a duck, nobody pointed out. We played the game for the sheer thrill of it. There was no pressure of performance.

Come to think of it, going to school, too, wasn't such a chore. Quite unlike today, when kids have to grapple with competition from a very early age. I was never under pressure to score a distinction everytime I wrote an exam. It was a delightful growing up.

The Growing up years…
Fantasies apart, I was very pragmatic even as a kid. Academics always came first for me. Coming from an academically inclined middle class background, I knew fully well that though cricket was a superb pastime, it wasn't something I could afford, just yet, to take up as a full-time career option.

My father, A D Bhogle, taught French, while my mother, Shalini Bhogle, was a professor of psychology. We were a very close-knit family and shared the passion for languages. My father, in fact, wrote his thesis on comparison of languages.

It was, however, my equally profound love for chemistry that made me opt for chemical technology at Osmania University when it was time for graduation.

In retrospect, I think, not getting into IIT proved, in some ways, to be lucky for me. With a lot of time on hand and being at home, I got a chance to participate in a host of extra-curricular activities. I studied French and played a lot of competitive cricket. I also began working at the local radio station.

IIM and after…
Graduation over, I started dreading the very though of having to work on a shop floor or ammonia plant. So it was IIM here I come -- Just like most of the other guys my age.

Making it past the tough written test and in-depth interview (at Ahmedabad) was a major achievement and my parents were delighted. As for me, I was on seventh heaven, for now I could pursue my deep-seated interest in advertising.

Even as a student of engineering, I was very much into ads. Each time one caught my attention, I made it a point to see which agency had come up with the winning campaign. And it so happened that the agency invariably turned out to be Rediffusion. My mind was made up then. I told myself - someday I'd be part of the Rediff team. As luck would have it, the professor of advertising at IIM-A turned out to be a Rediffusion guy. We bonded at once thanks to my enthu. And eventually, I succeeded in getting my first break at Rediffusion.

The first year was spent writing minutes of meetings, carrying art works around and taking all the shouting. Later though, as I got a hang of things, several major campaigns came my way - Colgate, Halo shampoo, Palmolive, Charmis to name just a few.

Radio Ga-Ga…
All this while, radio commentary was something that kept me in direct touch with my pet love -- cricket. However, when I missed out on a couple of major events because I had to be at Rediffusion and not the cricket ground, I decided to quite advertising.

Two other factors contributed to my taking up full-time commentary. One, my wife, Sangeeta, who is also from IIM-A, had a stable job. Second, was my own IIM degree. I was sure I could manage to get a job again whenever I wanted, if things did not work out as planned.

The fact that we had a house in Mumbai also made a lot of difference. Moreover, we don't have expensive tastes. Our needs were few. To begin with, I took up a sports management job at the Professional Management Group.

Engineering gave me a lot of professional confidence. I knew I could compete with the very best. The IIM degree, on the other hand, earned me a lot of respect. It changed my approach to my job. I wasn't 'just another hack'. It also helped me work better with companies and connect sports with management when I gave corporate talks.

Multi-tasking at its best…
Corporate programmes, game shows, commentary, writing, star interviews… I did it all, always maintaining a synergy for I believe if you have an active mind, you can do different things and still remain fresh. If I have to stick to one area of activity only, I'd be bored to death.

The only thing that I can never have enough of is cricket. I was lucky that I was able to get the sort of career I wanted. Nobody likes the standard 9-to-5 routine anyway. But not everyone gets the right break.

My first big break happened in 1991-92 when I went to Australia. Before that I had done a bit of commentary for AIR and Doordarshan struggling through the ranks, getting one test match in a year. Two, or three if I was lucky.

In Australia, I got to work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Luckily, the break came because DD could not guarantee payments and so could not telecast the series. This benefited me a lot because everyone then turned to the radio. Guys at ABC gave me one test match to gauge my calibre, and I didn't disappoint them.

I think, radio is an easy medium because you are not visible and if you have any problem, all you need to do is stick to the action. You won't go wrong. In India, however, there is a tendency to go into long-winding descriptions of the happenings on the ground, whereas in Australia things are completely different. For me, the summerisers were a great help, taking the load off "a young man."

Honing skills…
I believe in the dictum 'practice makes a man perfect.' I learnt a lot by watching my performances over and over again and by working with some of the best producers who, in turn, had worked with top presenters. They were very patient with me. They were fantastic.

As for inspiration, all I know is that I want to be like Tony Greig, who is an outstanding cricket broadcaster and is very widely respected." Among players, I favour the good, honest, decent, hardworking lads -- Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, who are also good team players. Our weakness is that we don't have team players. Even though cricket has the element of individual glory, it is basically a team sport.

And talking of scandals, what hurts me most is the fact that we have very few role models in our country. No wonder Sachin Tendulkar stands out.
On the writing front, apart from penning the biography of former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, I also did a bit of ghost writing for certain players. Not any more though. I have stopped that. It's not a very nice way of living.

What helped me establish a name for myself in the world of letters was the fact that I had a flair for writing. Also my advertising experience helped.

Success mantra…
Perfection is my motto in life. It is my constant endeavour to do the best I can. Also, I don't fool around with people. My work ethics is very strong .
Another important factor in my life is my family. We are very close. It is very sad to see people nowadays taking their family for granted. In fact, with the kind of publicity some get on page 3, they have made a virtue out of broken marriages. It bothers me no end. I has two sons -- Chinmaya and Sachit. Sometimes I miss having a daughter.

As for being rated "the most popular cricket commentator" all I can say is that if people think so, I am delighted. However, I believe that the moment you start thinking too much about yourself, you stop performing. And once you stop performing, you stop growing.

— As told to Meha Mathur