Quote:THIS YEAR’S Indian Premier League (IPL) telecast will not have the familiar voice of commentator Harsha Bhogle. The 54-year-old, whose association with Indian cricket goes back to the mid-80s and who has been describing IPL action since the 2008 opening season, was informed about the termination of his IPL contract just a week back.

The decision has come as a surprise for the voice of Indian cricket since he had conducted the Season 9 draft auction, featured in the league’s promotional videos, was in the commentators’ 51-day-long duty roster, and even had his flight booked by the production house.

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Of late, specifically during the WorldT20, Indian commentators have been part of several conversations on social media. In the aftermath of India’s last-ball “escape to victory” against Bangladesh in the crucial league game, actor Amitabh Bachchan, who was seen at the venue, had posted a tweet, asking commentators to focus more on Indian cricketers. “With all due respect, it would be really worthy of an Indian commentator to speak more about our players than others all the time,” he had tweeted.

When his followers speculated about who he was referring to, Bachchan did not name the commentator. When pressed, Bachchan tweeted that he wasn’t referring to Sunil Gavaskar or Sanjay Manjrekar.

“The assumption among some people was that he (Bachchan) was referring to me and while I don’t know if that is true, it did strike me that there seems to be a slight misconception about the role of a commentator in a telecast. I will try and clarify here,” Bhogle had reacted in a Facebook post.

“Star Sports 1 is the world feed. That is the telecast and commentary that goes to everyone around the world. That includes passionate fans in Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, England, the USA, everywhere. That broadcast must necessarily be an objective, balanced portrayal of events. Making that excessively India-centric means being unfair to other teams playing and to viewers from their countries who have the right to be as passionately involved as Indian supporters. And so, talking more about India, in a game like yesterday’s, would be letting down viewers in, say, Bangladesh,” he said.

Quote: I don't know what lies ahead. I have a contract with Star Sports with whom I share an excellent relationship. It is the reason why I don't have to do the IPL. I do it because I genuinely like the cricket on offer, I want to be part of cricket's laboratory to see what is brewing. It is a fantastic tournament.

I still don't know why I am not doing the IPL. I haven't been told. I can accept the fact that people don't like me. But I genuinely hope it isn't because cricketers have complained about what I have to say. I tell every young cricketer who cares to listen that we will never agree on everything but I will always desire that they do well; that I cannot stop them from scoring a run, or taking a wicket or holding a catch. Doing that is their job, telling the story of what they did, or didn't, is mine. Our paths will be strewn with admiration and disagreement. It is the nature of the job whether you are a university level cricketer or among the best there has been.

And, for heaven's sake, my greatest criticism is that I don't do enough of it. And when I do, my friend Prem Panicker isn't sure whether I have critiqued a player of proposed marriage!!

So, thank you very much. I love what I do and your words have been overwhelming.

But, I remain the teller of the story, not the story itself.