Veteran cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, who was removed from all commentary duties before the Indian Premier League by the BCCI last year, may make a comeback to the TV studios at least, if not as commentator for the upcoming season of the IPL, according to The Times of India.
After the World T20 last year, Bhogle was unceremoniously dropped from the IPL-9 commentary team, even after being put on the roster for the tournament. Reports suggested several reasons for his ouster, but the BCCI never gave a formal reason to the commentator.
However, there have been a lot of changes in the BCCI in the last one year and the officials, who are against Harsha Bhogle, are making the decisions anymore.
And the current administrators of the board have no issues with the commentator, if he is given an offer by a TV studio.
The other reason which could work in Bhogle’s favour is that, since former Pakistan players Ramiz Raja, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar will not be commentating due to the current relations between India and Pakistan, there is a lack of quality experts for this IPL at the moment.
According to reports, Bhogle and the Broadcasters Sony have been trying to negotiate a deal for some time, but nothing has been put on paper. However, both the parties have decided not to comment on the matter.
Since reportedly, a tweet by Amitabh Bachchan, which was retweeted by India’s then limited-overs captain MS Dhoni and a complaint by a player were part of the reasons behind the commentator being dropped, both Bhogle and Sony want to stay quiet because they are worried that a influential person may hamper the deal.
Bhogle’s commentating chances are slim because the BCCI hosts the tournament, but he may be able to get a studio contract by Sony and do commentary in Hindi, since Hindi commentary is done from the studios.