It is tough to talk about Harsha Bhogle without feeling that you’re doing a disservice to his stature by using ineefictive vocabulary.
He has been the voice of cricket, a clear and unshakable one, which has turned brilliant cricketers into heroes because of the way they were presented.
Here, we look at the best bits from his old interview with BBC, where he talks about everything ranging from his career as a cricket commentator, his love for chemistry and advertising and his views on cricket in India. Read on.
1. Ever so modest, this is how Harsha responded on being asked how he handles public attention.
2. But commentary came later. Before that, he did played a ‘fair bit of cricket’ which might come as a surprise to a lot of people (one in particular).
3. And even before that, was chemistry – one of the ‘few things’ he says he is good at (we already have 3 at this point).
4. Coming back to commentary, though, which was tried of ‘terror’. And the rest is history…
5. He had to work really hard for it, too – he had to record himself and play the same day. If that’s not commitment, I don’t what is.
6. It all paid off when he got the job as an 18-year-old, but his first day was a nightmare which made this true gentleman take a pledge that he won’t let that happen to any other kid working with him.
7. Harsha, while in love with what he did, wanted to pursue his education further and got through IIM-A. That is where he discovered his love for advertising, something he learnt an important lesson from.
8. Onto a more serious topic, the quality of Indian cricket, which wasn’t what it is now. That was the start of Ganguly era and aggression wasn’t necessarily our strong point.
9. And then, the much-needed reality check.
10. Harsha also touched upon the topic of Mohammad Azharuddin, calling him a nice guy who might have gone astray because ‘people change’.
11. Finally, when Karan asked him about his kids, he spilled this ‘secret’.