Gulabi Gend

Sometime last week. 

The Olympics were over and won’t be back for the next 4 years. After 17 days of non-stop multi-sport action, a giant void has been left in prime time television. In an attempt to fill up this void, started surfing through the sports channels and ended up on some live cricket telecast. And it wasn’t just any game. History was being created. The first ever first-class game being played in India with a pink ball. Between India Green and India Red (or maybe it was India Blue).

The pink ball is still very much a novelty. Enough to keep me hooked for a while. It was looking pretty under the lights. And our Jharkhand Bradman, Saurabh Tiwary was on crease. Only after watching the action for some time did I notice the commentary. 2 commentators giving a ball by ball report of the on-field action. One speaking in Hindi and the other in English.  

And then I heard. Gulabi Gend!

Ahh! The pearls of Hindi commentary. Where the commentator translates every word literally (e.g. Chhotti Gend, Lamba shot etc.) Wonder why though? After all sport has its own language and need not be dumbed down by this literal translation. Also reminded me of the movie Lagaan, which had the best Hindi commentator ever. (Maybe with the exception of the Sehwag-Shoaib Akhtar combo).

Anyways back to the "gulabi gend" game. It was an interesting game with the fortunes swinging around heavily from ball to bat. There was quite a decent crowd enjoying the game as well. While I am not too sure about the players reactions, the pink ball was easily spotted on the TV especially in the background of the green pitches. Run making was fast. Bowlers also held an advantage at times. Although quite a few catches were dropped. Maybe visibility issues? The audience might be ready for pink ball cricket but this project is still in pilot stage. Further testing in different conditions is needed before launching it on to the interantional stage in India. 

However, while the pink ball was a novelty, this alternating commentary needs to be stopped. It is jarring to hear and well makes you want to switch off the TV. BCCI, क्या आप सुन रहे हो ?