Table of Contents
Introduction
Commentary has been one of the major reasons behind the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The T20 tournament has witnessed as many as 15 editions thus far and plenty of commentators, both Indians and foreigners, have plied their trade.
Even as action on the field is exciting, brilliant pieces of commentary adds to the excitement and thrill. If an IPL final takes place without commentary, the match wouldn’t look as exciting as it actually is.
The addition of female commentators since the 2015 edition of the IPL has added to the beauty of commentary. Lisa Sthalekar, Melanie Jones and Isa Guha were among the first female commentators in the high-profile tournament.
The 2023 edition of the IPL is all set to get underway on March 31. Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) and four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will face each other in the opening match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Coming to the salaries of commentators, the IPL is known as a cash-rich league. Big money is shelled out for cricketers from the franchises and personnel in the commentary box.
A number of players get financially stabilised after earning an IPL contract and same goes for commentators, who play equally important roles.
Last year, former Indian batter Vinod Kambli said that he was in “dire need of work” as he was surviving on INR 30,000 per month from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He is one of the commentators in IPL 2023 and the stint is expected to help him financially. Kambli said that he was struggling to get work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Back in 2021, left-arm fast bowler Chetan Sakariya got his maiden contract with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL. After the IPL, the speedster said that he used the amount he got in the IPL for the treatment of his father, who passed away a few months later. Sakariya registered himself in the IPL auction at the lowest base price, but ended up fetching INR 1.2 crore from the champions of the inaugural edition.
The Role of Commentators in IPL
Commentators play a vital role in portraying the matches on the viewers, who watch the matches on their television, mobile phones, tablets and laptops. When a bowler gets a wicket, the bowler celebrates along with his teammates. But what adds spice to the wicket is a beautiful piece of commentary.
The commentators describe the delivery, reaction of the batter, nature of the catch taken or a run out effected with a brilliant direct hit. They tell the importance of the wicket for the bowling team and how it could hurt the batting team.
Ian Smith looked animated in the commentary box when Martin Guptill pulled off a direct hit to dismiss MS Dhoni in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Sourav Ganguly, who was along with Smith in the commentary box, sat silently.
Ravi Shastri’s iconic commentary during the 2011 World Cup final and Ian Bishop’s “Remember the Name” for Carlos Brathwaite in the final of the 2016 T20 World Cup will stay etched in the memories forever.
It’s pretty much the same in the IPL where the commentators need to stay on their toes. But it’s also necessary for commentators to not get carried away by emotions. Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has found himself in a lot of controversy due to his remarks. A number of commentators have faced the wrath of netizens for their biased commentary.
Commentators also have their differences in opinion during their jobs with the microphone. That’s when it’s necessary to show respect towards each other’s opinions. A few of the commentators, including Ravi Shastri and Anjum Chopra, who were both part of the broadcasting panel in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), would be a part of the IPL.
The likes of Gavaskar and Shastri also commentated during India’s four-match Test series and three-match ODI series against Australia.
Top IPL Commentators and Their Salaries
A number of renowned commentators from around the globe would be seen in the upcoming edition of the IPL. Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Aaron Finch, Tom Moody, Paul Collingwood, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Morrison, and David Hussey, Danny Morrison, Morne Morkel, Simon Doull, Matthew Hayden, Nicholas Knight will be commentating in English. The English commentators would have salaries in the range of $250,000 and $500,000.
Virender Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Mithali Raj, Mohammad Kaif, Sanjay Manjrekar, Imran Tahir, Deep Dasgupta, Ajay Mehra, Padamjeet Sehrawat, Jatin Sapru, K Srikkanth, S Badrinath, Laxmipathy Balaji and S Ramesh are the Hindi commentators. The ones will in the Hindi commentary panel will get a salary in the range of $80,000 and $350,000.
Sanjeeb Mukherjea, Ashoke Dinda, Gautam Bhattacharya, Saradindu Mukherjee, Joydeep Mukherjee and Debasish Datta are the ones in the Bengali commentary panel. The Gujarati commentary panel consists of Karan Mehta, Manan Desai, Dhvanit Thaker, Akash Trivedi, Manpreet Juneja, Nayan Mongia.
Bhavna Balakrishnan, R. Muthuraman, K V Sathyanarayanan, RJ Balaji and Vishnu Hariharan are the members of the Tamil commentary panel in the IPL. Kaushik NC, R Sridhar, MSK Prasad, Kalyan Krishna, Kalyan Kollarapu form the Telugu commentary panel. Sridhar has experience of working with the Indian team as he is their former fielding coach.
MSK Prasad, on the other hand, worked as the head of the men’s selection committee. He also picked India’s team for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The Kannada commentary panel consists of Madhu Mailankody, Reena Dsouza, Kiran Srinivasa, Sumesh Goni and Vijay Bharadwaj. Bharadwaj is a former Indian cricketer who played in the early 2000s.
Snehal Pradhan, Vinod Kambli, Sandeep Patil and Amol Muzumdar are a part of the Marathi commentary panel in the IPL. All four commentators are former cricketers. While Pradhan, Kambli and Patil had the privilege of playing international cricket, Muzumdar finished his career as a legend of Indian domestic cricket. Muzumdar was the leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy cricket before Wasim Jaffer surpassed his tally.
Ravi Shastri salary, Jatin Sapru salary, Aakash Chopra salary, Harsha Bhogle salary, Suresh Raina salary, Gautam Gambhir salary and other IPL commentators salary go over the roof.
How IPL Commentators Get Hired
Experience is a major criterion in selection of the commentators in the IPL. Salary of commentators in IPL is decided as per that. Most of the commentators, especially in the English and Hindi commentary panel, have a truckload of experience of commentating in various tournaments around the world. A number of them have worked in the IPL and got the taste of high-voltage matches in the cash-rich tournament.
Barring Harsha Bhogle and a few others, most of the commentators are either current or former cricketers. Imran Tahir is a current cricketer and he recently played in the 2023 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The veteran South Africa cricketer is a part of the Hindi commentary panel.
Irfan Pathan and Gautam Gambhir played for the India Maharajas in the Legends Cricket in Doha, Qatar. They would now be seen inside the commentary box speaking on the matches during the IPL. Mithali Raj’s selection in the commentary panel shouldn’t be questioned as she is one of the greatest cricketers India have ever produced.
After retiring from the game last year, Mithali took up commentary and is pretty good with the microphone in hand. She recently worked as the mentor of the Gujarat Giants, who failed to advance to the playoffs of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Factors That Affect IPL Commentator Salaries
Most of views in the IPL come from English commentators and . The views on OTT platforms go offer the roof during high-profile matches. The popularity of the IPL has grown over the years and viewership of the tournament has grown because of that. Most of the views come from the English commentary. Hence, the English commentators get paid the most. Hindi is second in the list among commentary and hence, the Hindi commentators get paid in the higher bracket.
IPL Commentator Salaries in 2023
The English commentators, including the likes of Matthew Hayden, Aaron Finch, Tom Moody, Paul Collingwood, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Morrison, and David Hussey, Danny Morrison, Morne Morkel will earn the amount in the highest bracket. One can enjoy their commentary while watching the matches on the Star Sports Network and Jio Cinemas.
The English commentators will get a salary of around $250,000 and $500,000. The Hindi commentators, on the other hand, would get a salary in the range of $80,000 and $350,000. Salary for ipl tamil commentators are also very high.
Salaries of Regional Language Commentators
Along with English and Hindi IPL commentators, there will be Tamil IPL commentators, Telugu IPL commentators, Kannada IPL commentators, Bengali IPL commentators, English IPL commentators, Gujarati IPL commentators and Marathi IPL commentators.
Although it’s English and Hindi broadcasting, which gets the most viewership, commentary in other languages can’t be undermined. Some renowned names from the world of cricket and journalism will be present there. Goutam Bhattacharya is a veteran journalist in Bengal and it would be a delight listening to him if one is a fan of Bengali sports commentary.
Vinod Kambli’s salary, Parthiv Patel’s salary, Abhinav Mukund’s salary, WV Raman’s salary and Dhvanit Thaker’s salary are also on the higher side.
Conclusion
Commentary is an essential part of cricket broadcasting and without it, watching matches may not be as exciting as it should be. Around 73 commentators will ply their trade in the upcoming IPL and it shows that the BCCI gives commentary a lot of importance.
Commentary doesn’t start from the beginning of the game. Prior to every game, the experts get together to analyze the teams and importance of the matches in the context of the tournament. In an IPL match, the telecast starts an hour earlier as a build up to the action on the field of play.
After 30 minutes of team and players’ analysis, the toss takes place where Ravi Shastri, Simon Doull and many others are often seen introducing the teams. The captains are then asked about the reason behind either electing to bat or field. The commentators also ask them about any team changes or injury updates.
After the line-ups are decided, the experts in the dug out discuss about the playing elevens of both teams. And once the match starts, the personnel in the commentary box chip in. The commentators keep rotating throughout the match and add to the excitement.
After the match ends, the commentators also have an important role, this time in the post-match presentation ceremony. They name the sponsors, thanks the organising board and have a chat with the captains and Player of the Match. They also announce several other prizes.
Once the presentation ceremony ends, the panellists analyse what happened in the match and what the teams need to do. While action on the field takes place for around 150 minutes, the broadcasting happens for around 5 hours.
On days of double-headers, the broadcasting becomes even more intense as it continues for around nine hours. Hence, one can understand the role of commentators and the need of commentary in the IPL while also grasping why the ipl commentators 2021 salary, among others, was so high.
The upcoming IPL will be played for nearly two months and the commentators are in for a tough, but exciting times over the next eight weeks. There won’t be any shortage of entertainment as has been the case since the opening match of the IPL in 2008 when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) hammered the Royal Challengers (RCB) after Brendon McCullum lit up the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore with the maiden hundred of the tournament.
The upcoming IPL edition promises a lot. 10 teams will take part in the tournament. The Titans played their maiden IPL season last season and came up trumps in their first attempt. They defeated the Royals in the final in Ahmedabad. The Royals, in the meantime, are looking for an IPL title since winning their first back in 2008 under the leadership of Late Shane Warne.
Mumbai Indians happen to be the most successful team in the IPL, having won the title as many as five times. However, they failed to advance to the playoffs in 2021 and 2021. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the four-time champions, also failed to advance to the next round last season and will be looking to make amends. They will be led by the legendary MS Dhoni.
FAQs
What factors affect salary of IPL commentators?
Experience and language of commentary are among the major factors that affect the salaries of the commentators in the IPL.
