After a long tryst with on-field action, CSK legend Suresh Raina is all set to begin the second innings of his career via his commentary debut during the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League, starting March 26. The 35-year-old will be doing Hindi commentary for Star Sports during the IPL 2022, where a giant of broadcasting Ravi Shastri will also be making his comeback behind the mic.
Fans will have the chance to hear Shastri’s famous commentary during IPL 2022 after nearly a seven-year hiatus from the comm box due to his commitments with the senior national men’s side across all formats.
Shastri initially put the commentary duties on halt as India’s Director of Cricket back in 2014, a post he had to relinquish for a year when former India spinner Anil Kumble was appointed as the team’s head coach for the 2016-2017 season. Soon, however, Kumble’s contentious sacking from the job followed Shastri’s return to the set-up as a full-time head coach.
While he went on to oversee one of the most successful periods in Indian cricket history, especially in Tests, fans missed his grand style and authoritative voice behind the mic. The former Indian allrounder has been present behind the mic at every iconic moment in Indian cricket post his retirement, ranging from Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes at the 2007 T20 World Cup to MS Dhoni’s legacy-defining finish in the final of the 2011 World Cup.
Apart from Shastri’s return, fans can look forward to Raina’s interesting debut in the field of commentary, where he will be joining hands with some of the experienced heads in describing the on-field action throughout IPL 2022. For now, both Raina and Shastri will be doing Hindi commentary.
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Besides English and Hindi, host broadcaster Star Sports will be providing the live feed to IPL 2022 games in various local languages of India, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali. A whopping total of 80 commentators are on board for the tournament.
Commentators appointed for IPL 2022 as per respective languages
World Feed: Anjum Chopra, Ian Bishop, Alan Wilkins, Mbangwa, Nicholas Knight, Danny Morrison, Simon Doull, Matthew Hayden, Kevin Pietersen, Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta
Hindi: Aakash Chopra, Irfan Pathan, Jatin Sapru, Suren Sundaram, Ravi Shastri, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Nikhil Chopra, Tanya Purohit, Kiran More
Dugout: Scott Styris, Graeme Swann, Anant Tyagi, Neroli Meadows
Tamil: S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, S Ramesh, Nanee, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Muthuraman R, RK Bhavna, RJ Balaji
Telugu: K N Chakravarthy, S Avulapalli, Kalyan Krishna D, Venugopal Rao, T Suman, M A S Krishna, N Matcha, V V Medapati, MSK Prasad, A Reddy
Bengali: Joydeep Mukherjee, Debasish Datta, Sanjeeb Mukherjea, Saradindu Mukherjee, Gautam Bhattacharya
Marathi: Chaitanya Sant, Kunal Date, Prasanna Sant, Snehal Pradhan, Sandeep Patil
Kannada: Bharath Chipli, GK Anil Kumar, Venkatesh Prasad, Veda Krishnamurthy, Sumesh Goni, Vinay Kumar, Madhu Mailankody, Kiran Srinivas, Srinivasa Murthy P, Vijay Bharadwaj
The IPL 2022 features a total of 74 matches, with 10 franchises – including new entrants Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans – locking horns in the biggest T20 league in the world. The tournament runs from March 26 to May 29 and will be played in a Mumbai-Pune bubble to limit air travel amid the downsizing wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Four venues – the Wankhede Stadium (20 matches), DY Patil Stadium (20), Brabourne Stadium (15) in Mumbai and the MCA International Stadium (15) in Pune – will share the hosting rights for the tournament.
