They were a class apart – Listening to cricket commentary those days was a pleasure, what with the voices of experts such as Bobby Talyarkhan, Ananda Rau, and Pearson Surita capturing the magic of the game over AIR.

CRICKET COMMENTARY is now a subject, debated and dissected by all, including the players. A lot of it is related to what is being said and analysed by a plethora of former cricketers in the current World Cup.

True, nothing panegyric is being said about any of them, and rightly so, because very few had succeeded in riveting the attention of the huge audience with their description, vocabulary, vision and assessment, even though a majority are high profile players in their heyday. Their discomfort in pitching for the appropriate expression, total lack of felicity and professionalism, leave alone the essential ingredients of voice modulation, sobriety and restraint, make a mockery of what many regard as an art in itself.

It is fashionable to portray commentators of the BBC and ABC as demi-gods and the Indians unworthy of the job. In the Indian context, it is ridiculous, since the Englishmen and Australians come off in their mother-tongue. Long before the names of John Arlott and Alan McGilvary entered the Indian psyche, there were commentators who earned the appreciation and approbation of one and all, including the thousands of Englishmen. Can any of those who listened to the narration of A.F.S. (Bobby) Talyarkhan from the famous Bombay Gymkhana ground, or any other centre, where Tests were played, feel that it did not match his western counterpart? He was a one-man army, and went on the air throughout the day, giving listeners a mental picture of what he was seeing, be it the classicism of Lala, the imperious stroke-making prowess of CK, or even the impeccable defensive display by Vijay Merchant.

To say, `Bobby’ Talyarkhan was a trendsetter so far as commentary in Indian sports is concerned, notably for cricket and horse-racing, is no exaggeration. There have been quite a few who have followed in the footsteps of `Bobby’, each exuding a different style, personality and intonation to communicate with listeners over the then most powerful medium, the All India Radio. The Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagaram (`Vizzy’ to many), the former India captain, had a style of narration all his own. He was admired and despised, but none dared to ignore him. Vizzy always led the field, and formed a lively team with Devraj Puri and Berry Sarbadikary. While Puri, who was a first-class and unofficial Test cricketer, spoke with a passion, almost racing with the ball rolling from the bat of Vijay Hazare, Vijay Manjrekar or Dattu Phadkar, the silver-haired Berry Sarbadikary was more tonal, drawling but measured.

But if you needed one with the diction and style that matched those demigods of BBC and ABC it was Pearson Surita from Kolkata. A brilliant narrator, both in football and cricket, Pearson was hugely popular with the listeners for the choice of words and observations. Not surprisingly, he was invited as guest commentator to share the mike along with John Arlott and Brian Johnston when India toured England in 1967. Equally versatile was Anant Setalvad from Mumbai.

In no way did Tamil Nadu lag behind in this field. Though `Bobby’ Talyarkhan captured the audience here — he named GP “the parson” and Rangachari “the policeman” — in the 1930s from the picturesque Chepauk, once considered as beautiful as any other English ground, this city, considered then a conservative, intellectual centre, on par with London, can remember with pride a few notable cricket commentators as good in any other metropolis of India. High on this is the late P. Ananda Rau, whose sonorous voice could be heard from any transistor set those days during the Ranji Trophy matches. Unlike now, commentary never came through the whole day, and the resume after an hour or so from lunch break was eagerly looked forward to. The summing up by Ananda Rau on what occurred during the break would be enough for the listener to mentally picture the happenings at Chepauk.

A `Varsity’ blue, Ananda Rau, who spent the better part of his professional career as hotelier — he was the manager with the Dasaprakash Group — contributed immensely to enhancing the profile of cricket commentary. When AIR began broadcasting commentary in 1938, Ananda Rau, then a narrator of local events, made his debut with the Madras-United Province Ranji Trophy match in 1943. Encouraged by the then state captain, G. Parthasarathy, (GP as he was affectionately called) who later became India’s Permanent Representative in the U.N. Ananda Rau was behind the mike for over 57 Tests (both official and unofficial) and 117 first-class matches, including the Ranji and Duleep Trophy tournaments. The golden moment of his career as a commentator came when he was invited by the BBC to do the job from the hallowed Lord’s. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991 for his contribution to sport and tourism. He was president of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Associations.

Ananda Rau had a splendid team man in Balu Alaganan, the first captain to take Tamil Nadu (then Madras) to a trophy triumph in the Ranji Trophy. Renowned for his sobriety and depth of knowledge, Alaganan’s observations were weighty and taken as authoritative. Another prominent figure during that period was again a Ranji Trophy captain and former Minister of State, R. T. Parthasarathy of Salem. A youngster who went on to become an exponent, K. Balaji, cut short his career behind the mike to pursue higher studies. Bureaucrat and cricket buff, V. Ramamuthy, was also on the panel — he even toured Pakistan. But he switched over to Tamil commentary, and continues to be part of that team. While on the subject, it is not easy to ignore the name of V. M. Chakrapani who joined the staff of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The charm of radio commentary is gone. The advent of TV has transformed the whole concept, where professionalism and felicity have been pushed into the background in preference to projecting star players — glamorous models too — whether they fill the bill or not. If someone today views the TV on mute mode, it is not an aberration; but a conscious choice to avoid the deluge of words.

S. THYAGARAJAN – Article Courtesy – The Hindu

Post Script –  I, HR Gopala Krishna, had the opportunity of working with P Ananda Rau,  Balu Alaganan and, V Ramamurthy in the Radio commentary box as a scorer-cum-statistician in Test Matches and Ranji Trophy matches and with RT Parthasarathy and K Balalji  in Ranji Trophy matches