For former Andhra and Deccan Chargers all-rounder D. Kalyan Krishna, the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) has an all-new challenge in store as he will be wearing the hat of a commentator for the third year in succession but with a fresh set of demands.
He will wield the mike alongside former International cricketers Venkatapathy Raju, Y. Venugopala Rao, sports scribes Sudheer Mahavadi, Venkatesh and Chandrasekhar. He is leaving for Mumbai on April 3 to attend a three-day seminar to take stock of the things that would unfold from April 7, the inaugural day of the mega event.
He will be commenting on both on and off-field proceedings in Telugu and will be a pre-match expert in this edition. “My primary job is to present a pre-match analysis and predict how the teams and players will perform,” he says.
The workshop assumes significance as he will be trained by a team of experts in skills such as communication, modulation, pronunciation, language and other technical aspects.
New trend
The entry of Starsports into broadcasting has changed the very concept of commentary as producers felt the importance of making the IPL a gripping event by evoking a sense of rivalry between teams and captains.
“No one will get glued to the screen for hours watching a match unless it is beamed in a gripping and thrilling manner. Just ball-to-ball narration is not enough. The commentary team should be able to predict what is going to happen based on the body language and movements of players on field,” explains Mr. Krishna
Giving an example, he says, if the match is between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers (Bangalore), it will be hyped as a fight between Kohli and Dhoni. This is just to draw the attention of the viewers by creating a friendly rift between the teams, he adds.
Cricket commentary is a good career opportunity to players who have good language skills, he feels.
“I am working hard to emerge as an expert sports analyst and commentator in the future, as the regional commentary is fast picking up among viewers in Andhra Pradesh,” he says.
Incidentally, Mr. Kalyan Krishna has also made his foray in the pro-kabaddi commentary and made his mark.
