Jayadev Calamur

India is a cricket crazy nation. They will continue to be, despite India's recent success in hockey.

When India won the inaugural Asian Champions trophy against Pakistan, Hockey India originally announced a cash prize of Rs 25,000. When India won the World Cup in 2011, the cricketers were given prizes worth crores of rupees. The money is due to huge sponsorships and a rich cricket board.

When you look at live sporting events the world over, it needs to be packaged properly for the viewer. This includes good sponsors, which means good money. However, the biggest factor in someone watching live sport on television is the commentary.

In India, I feel that the main reason why other sports don't do as well is because the commentators sound as if they aren't interested. When you watch a cricket match, you may think that Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Navjot SinghSidhu talk rubbish. However, I'll say this in their defence: they love the sport and you can hear the passion in their voice. There is a discussion. It may be rubbish, but it's passionate crap (no pun intended).

However, cricket commentary in domestic tournaments is poor. There is no passion for the game and as a result, no viewership. Harsha Bhogle who started his career as a radio commentator for Ranji games, would discuss the game with passion. He still does that and I’m sure that if he was asked to talk in a Ranji game, there would be no boredom in his voice.

When I've watched hockey games in the past, the commentators sounded tired and disinterested. The commentary at the Olympic qualifiers was different. The commentators were screaming and bringing the game to life to the television viewer. Watching it live again is a different experience. The crowd energy is enough.

When I tune into DD sports sometimes, there are a few athletic events happening. I change the channel in a couple of minutes because of the poor commentary. I think I then think of the time Usain Bolt broke the Olympic record and how the commentator was screaming out his name into the microphone. The football commentary in the EPL or any Club game has the same enthusiasm, which is why European club football is so popular in India.

If Indians are to appreciate sports other than cricket, maybe it is time for the television channels to hire people who love the game, rather than those who look at it as a job. I'm sure that there are several people who would do a good job. We need to find them. Good commentary will automatically get more viewers, which in turn will get more sponsors, which in turn get more money and which in turn, produce more sportsmen for India.