Harsha Bhogle
Harsha Bhogle | |
|---|---|
| File:Harshabhogle.jpg | |
| Born | 19 July 1961 |
| Occupation | TV Commentator/Presenter |
| Spouse | Anita |
| Children | Chinmay and Satchit |
Harsha Bhogle (born 19 July 1961) is an Indian cricket commentator and journalist. He was born in a Marathi speaking family in Hyderabad. He is currently working for ESPN STAR Sports and has a wife and two children.
Early life
Harsha Bhogle is the son of Mr. A D Bhogle, a professor of French, and Mrs. Shalini Bhogle, a professor of psychology.
Harsha studied at Hyderabad Public School. After completing school, he studied Chemical Engineering at Osmania University in Hyderabad and later graduated from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
Career
Advertising career
Bhogle joined advertising agency Rediffusion DY&R soon after graduating from IIM Ahmedabad. He worked on assignments for Colgate, Halo shampoo, Palmolive, and Charmis, among others.
Commenting career
Bhogle began his career as a commentator at the age of 19 with All India Radio, while living in Hyderabad. In 1991-92, he became the first Indian commentator to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during India's cricket series before the 1992 Cricket World Cup. He has since worked for ABC Radio Grandstand during India's Australian tours. This has led to some colourful cultural exchanges. During a test at the Gabba in Brisbane he once asked the ABC's Kerry O'Keeffe how he could become "more Australian". The reply was "Jeez Harsha. You're a tee-totaller vegetarian who doesn't bet. Give me something to work with!"
On another occasion, when an Australian commentator asked him how good India's leg spinner Narendra Hirwani was as a batsman, Bhogle replied: "If you put together a team of Number 11 batsmen, Hirwani would be this team's Number 11 batsman!"
He has done assignments for the past eight years for the BBC and was part of their commentary team in the 1996 and the 1999 Cricket World Cups.
Since 1995, he has been presenting live cricket from all around the world for ESPN STAR Sports. He has covered more than 50 Test Matches and almost 300 One Day Internationals. He is part of the ESPN STAR Sports' elite panel of cricket commentators called A Few Good Men, which includes Alan Wilkins, Wasim Akram, and Sanjay Manjrekar. He has also covered the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April/May 2009.
He has hosted television programs such as Harsha Online, Harsha Unplugged and School Quiz Olympiad for ESPN and Star Sports. Harsha is Indian cricket's first non-player celebrity and also appears in several TV and print commercials.
Bhogle was recently voted the favourite TV cricket commentator by Cricinfo users based on a worldwide poll.[1]. Bhogle has also anchored BBC's travel serial Travel India and Business Today Acumen Business Quiz and Debate competitions.
Bhogle was the advisor to the Mumbai Indians for the 2008 IPL.[2]
Bibliography
He has also written a book, Azhar - The Authorized Biography of Mohammad Azharuddin. Another book by Harsha: Out of the Box - Watching the Game We Love, compiling his columns in The Indian Express, was released on August 18, 2009 with Sachin Tendulkar receiving the first copy.
Personal life
He married Anita Kulkarni, his classmate from IIM Ahmedabad. They have two sons, Chinmay and Satchit. He is fluent in English, Telugu, Marathi and Hindi.