Harsha Bhogle is an Indian cricket presenter and journalist. An engineer turned sports broadcaster from IIM Ahmedabad, Harsha Bhogle is known as the voice of Indian cricket. He works as a presenter, anchor, commentator and expert for various sports media houses. Harsha Bhogle is highly regarded among Indian and international audiences for perfecting his cricketing knowledge. He is very popular for his storytelling style.
Harsha Bhogle: 5 Things About The Cricket Commentator Most Don’t Know!
1. Born 19 July 1971 into a Marathi-speaking family in Hyderabad:
Harsha Bhogle, an engineer from IIM Ahmedabad, considers himself the least educated in the family. The commentator is the son of A.D.Bhogle who is a French Professor and his mother’s name is Shalini Bhogle who is a Professor of Psychology. His two siblings Swati Bhogle and Srinivas Bhogle are also highly educated.
He went to Hyderabad Public School and later studied Chemical Engineering at Osmania University, Hyderabad. He did his post graduate program PGDM from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. After graduation, a young Harsha took up work in an advertising agency for two years, but soon changed lanes and joined a sports management company where he continued working for two years.
2. Career at 19:
Bhogle started his career as a cricket player for APCA and took part in small level cricket.
Then he made his commentary debut on All India Radio at the age of 19 while living in Hyderabad. He was the first Indian commentator from 1991-to 92 to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during the Indian cricket series before the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
3. Personal life:
Harsha Bhogle is married to his IIM classmate Anita, and their sons, Chinmoy and Satchita, live in Mumbai.
Harsha Bhogle and his wife Anita Bhogle have written a book titled Ways to Win which is based on the world of sports drawn from the wisdom of the business. This book is the result of ten years of work and experience in sports communication and journalism.
4. Career:
Between 1991–and 92, he became the first Indian cricket commentator to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation during India’s cricket series.
Since 1995, he has been presenting live cricket for ESPN STAR Sports from every part of the world.
He covered the 2011–’12 series in Australia entirely for ABC Radio.
Harsha has covered every season of the Indian Premier League since 2009.
He was dropped from the commentary team by the BCCI in April 2016 due to alleged criticism from the Indian players. But his right to speak has been supported by many people in India.
He has hosted several television shows for ESPN and Star Sports.
Harsha expanded its online presence by hosting Out of Box with Harsha on YouTube.
Bhogle was adjudged TV cricket commentator in a poll conducted by Cricinfo.
Bhogle was an advisor to Mumbai Indians in the 2008 IPL.
Prior to these amazing highlights, it all started when Bhogle played for Hyderabad as a division cricketer and represented Osmania University in the Rohinton Baria tournament. After completing his education, he worked in an advertising agency and a sports event management company for a few years.
Harsha currently works as a broadcaster and specialist with Sony Sports Network and Cricbuzz, a subsidiary of The Times Group. He also works on several other projects. Mission ISRO, a podcast on Spotify is one of them.
5. Criticism:
Harsh Bhogle who started at a young age without any formal training, is one of the most admired, experienced broadcasters and journalists in the world, inspiring many young minds to work in this field following his footsteps. That being said, the man who is front and center in the public’s eye has faced the raw end of fame.
Live chat show and the joke with the fans:
During the IPL 2022, fans were furious over Harsha Bhogle’s joke and got angry on social media. Two days before Harsha Bhogle, who began commentary in the IPL starting from 26 March, did something that scared his fans in a live chat show.
The famous cricket commentator was involved in a situation where Harsha Bhogle’s mobile fell down while talking during the chat show. Nothing was recorded in the camera and only Harsha’s voice could be heard from behind. He was asking – what happened, who is there, where did it come from?.
Harsha’s wife later said – it was a promo. The cricket commentator then tweeted and told everyone that he is fine. He wrote- ‘I am fine. I’m sorry for worrying you all. Thank you for expressing your love and concern towards me. It has become so viral that I could not even imagine. This is also something to be learned. Its purpose was something else. I’m sorry, Cheers.’
Later Harsha’s wife Anita Bhogle also shared a post and wrote- ‘I am making it clear to you all that all is well with Harsha Bhogle. It was a promo that went viral. Thank you for the love and concern.
But fans were not buying the “joke”. One user wrote – “This is not the right way to joke. Cricket fans get attacked. We are very serious about security. Please don’t make such a joke again”. Another user wrote – “Hope this is not done for any promotion. Such jokes put people in tension. God forbid such an incident happens in the right way, then people will consider it as a promo. Won’t take it seriously”.
What’s the real reason Harsha Bhogle disappeared screaming during the live interview?
As we mentioned above, Harsha suddenly disappears from the screen screaming while talking about the IPL in a live video on Instagram. Here’s the whole story after the video went viral.
He is heard saying “what happened? Who is it? Where did it come from?” After that, his voice stops. The anchors also looked shocked and upset about Harsha Bhogle. At first, the anchors who were in discussion with Harsha felt that Bhogle’s phone had fallen. But soon they realized that something was wrong as well.
So what happened? In my opinion, it was something to do with his wife and something within his house. It could be something like a package or even a dog.
After this whole incident, his fans on social media also got upset and started praying for his well being. People were worried about Harsha’s condition and started posting continuously. However, later Harsha’s wife Anita Bhogle clarified the situation by sharing a post on social media on this matter, saying it was a “promo”.
