Blogging Matters!!! : 'My 5ive' - 5 Of The Very Best Indian Commentators

Day 43.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Readerland. Welcome to the one of its kind blog, where you'll experience the facets of sports, like you've never before. Welcome to another exciting edition of BM's!!! - 'My 5ive'.
Alright I was just trying to do a facsimile of the people who are going to be a part of tonight's list and the image above is reason enough to reflect their persona.
Yes, we'll be taking up 5 names from the Indian Sports Broadcasting community, which includes both Radio and Television broadcasters. The contributions of these individuals in revolutionizing the way sports have been heard through radio or t.v. commentary is an off beaten path.
So, without further ado let's get the blog rolling -

1.) Ardeshir Furdorji Sohrabji ''Bobby'' Talyarkhan -

• In the 1930's , A.F.S. Talyarkhan was among the very best and very first persons who took up Radio commentary at a time when there was no television. His specialization in this field was the game of Cricket. He could speak without intervals, except for lunch and tea, his unique phraseology and ability to do commentary all by himself, for about 6-7 hours, made people to congregate in  middle of the streets to listen to his splendid commentary.
• Among his other qualities was the fact that he disliked sharing his microphone with any other person and this is the very reason for which he had to give up his commentary and terminated his deal with All India Radio.

2.) Narottam Puri -

• In the 70's and 80's, Cricket in India was growing in popularity day by day. A number of exceptional  individuals made their voice heard and enchanted the masses by the dexterity in their commentary. Among those few men is Narottam Puri,  who became a very recognizable face on the early days of television in the country.
• His in depth knowledge of the game, his fine fettle command over the English language, made him the finest play-by-play Test Cricket commentator on the Doordarshan network.

3.) Jasdev Singh -

• Another distinguishing personality in this list is Jasdev Singh. His voice was first heard through All India Radio Jaipur in 1955. He used to do Cricket commentary in Hindi language.
•  In his 35 years of commentary, he has also covered nine Olympics and six Asian Games. His expertise is not confined till here, as he has done play-by-play commentary in eight hockey world cups. In 2004, he was awarded with Padma Bhushan.

4.) Ananda Rau -

• The charisma of radio broadcasting kept on amplifying due to personalities like Ananda Rau. He began his radio commentary of Test Cricket in 1943, via the All India Radio in a Ranji Trophy Match played in Tamil Nadu.
•  He covered more than 100 first-class matches and more than 50 international matches. His eccentric style of covering matches in English language took him to a level that is hard to achieve for many. He was given an invitation to do broadcasting from Lord's cricket ground in England.

5.) Sushil Doshi -

• Another gem in the history of radio broadcasting of sports was Sushil Doshi. He was from Indore and belonged to an industrialist family. His cricket commentary from the 70's is often reminisced for his coverage in both Hindi and English.
• Moreover, he is also remembered for his contribution in developing cricket commentary in Hindi by coining new terms. For eg; He called four (boundary) as 'chaukka', etc.

I know that I have missed out many names who are in no way out of the 5 very best broadcasters/commentators. However, this list was compiled of commentators from the 20th century and doesn't include any contemporary names to basically demonstrate to all of us, the dying art of sports commentary. Radio commentary is on the verge of extinction today and television commentary isn't doing much to revive the pleasure of listening to sports commentators.
Thanks For Reading.

Thought Of The Day : - ''Strive always to excel in virtue and truth.''