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The Indian Premier League (IPL) got underway back in 2008 with the iconic match between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
For the first seven editions of the cash-rich tournament, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the IPL Governing Council preferred only male commentators. But in 2015, the Indian board brought in a change.
2015 witnessed the first time when IPL female commentators were a part of the commentary panel. The likes of Isa Guha, Anjum Chopra and Melanie Jones were among the very first female commentators in the IPL.
Since then, female commentary has been a crucial aspect of commentary, adding to the excitement and thrill of the matches on the field. The upcoming IPL promises to provide even more excitement with male and female commentators plying their trade together.
The opening match of IPL 2023 will be played defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, who will be captained by MS Dhoni, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Titans, led by Hardik Pandya, participated in the IPL for the first time in 2022 and came up trumps in their maiden campaign. The Super Kings, on the other hand, won the IPL four under Dhoni’s leadership, but failed to advance to the playoffs last time around. They will be looking to make amends CSK also have two Champions League T20 titles to their name.
Let’s now take a look at the IPL commentators female who will be weaving their magic in IPL 2023
Anjum Chopra
Anjum Chopra is a former Indian cricketer and was one of those, who contributed heavily to the growth of women’s cricket in her country. She was also the skipper of her national team across formats and was an effective top-order batter. In 12 Tests, 127 ODIs and 18 T20Is, the southpaw racked up 548, 2856 and 241 runs respectively with the help of a century and 22 half-centuries.
Chopra was also the first Indian woman to score 1000 runs in ODIs. Back in 2012, Chopra bowed out of international cricket after taking part in a five-match T20I series at home. In that series, she scored 75 runs at an average of 18.75 with a top score of 33 in Vizag.
Back in 2014, 2007 and 2004, she won the Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Delhi state award respectively. She was also a part of the IPL commentators female 2021.
Back in 2016, she got the honorary Membership of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. In fact, the now 45-year-old was the first women’s cricketer to get the same. Apart from her journey in cricket, she was also a part of the TV Reality Show, Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 4.
Chopra also co-authored the book Women’s Cricket World – A Journey from 1745- 2013. Chopra is also the first Indian to take part in six World Cups (four 50-over World Cup and 2 T20 World Cups)
After her on-field journey came to a close, Chopra tried her hand at commentary. In 2014, she commentated in the World Kabaddi League after which started exploring the art in cricket. Chopra, who made her international debut at the age of 17, is currently one of the most prolific female commentators in India.
Chopra recently was a part of the commentary panel in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023, which was won by the Mumbai Indians (MI), led by Harmanpreet Kaur, after beating Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
After her stint in the WPL, the veteran is all set to weave magic in the IPL, along with a number of renowned commentators, including Sunil Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle, Sanjay Manjrekar, Matthew Hayden, Kevin Pietersen and others.
Isa Guha
Isa Guha is a former cricketer, who played for England from 2011 to 2011. Guha made her international debut at the age of 16 in an ODI against Scotland in Reading. In the very next year, she forayed into Test cricket with their first match against India in Taunton. Two years later in 2004, Guha got the first taste of T20I cricket in the match against New Zealand at Hove.
She went on to play eight Tests, 83 ODIs and 22 T20Is in which she has notched 113, 122 and 39 runs respectively. Guha was primarily a bowler, who picked up 148 wickets in her international career for England. Back in December 2008, she was ranked the World No.1 bowler in Women’s ODIs.
Back in 2011, she played her last match in every format. She last donned the national jersey in a T20I against South Africa in Potchefstroom. Guha also holds the record of the highest ninth wicket partnership in Women’s ODIs when she added 73 runs with Lynsey Askew.
Back in 2009, Guha was part of the England team, which won the World T20. On March 9, 2012, Guha pulled the curtains down on her international career. It was the same day when veteran Indian batter Rahul Dravid, known as ‘The Wall’, walked out of the game.
After bidding adieu to his on-field journey, Guha started her career in the field of commentary. In 2012, she was a part of ITV4’s coverage of the IPL. She is currently a Test Match Special (TMS) commentator and writes columns for the BBC Sports website.
Her career in commentary flourished when in 2018, she was named as a commentator for Sky Sports for the Test match between England and Pakistan. Later, she entered Australian cricketer after being named as a commentator for Fox Cricket.
Guha was also in the commentary panel in the 2019 World Cup, which was won by England after beating New Zealand in the final at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. In 2018, Guha tied the knots with Richard Thomas, who is a member of the band ‘Brother and Bones’.She is among the IPL lady commentators.
Mayanti Langer
Mayanti Langer needs no introduction as she is one of the most popular faces in the history of the IPL. She is among the female commentators in ipl. The now 38-year-old has worked with Star Sports in plenty of seasons in the T20 league and can be seen interviewing plenty of popular faces from the cricket fraternity.
She started her career as a sports broadcaster back in 2006 and she continued for 14 years in a row until 2019. Thereafter, Langer took a break from her job as she was about to embrace parenthood with husband Stuart Binny, also a former Indian cricketer. In 2012, Binny and Mayanti got married.
When Langer was away, it was Australian broadcaster Neroli Meadows, who replaced her in the IPL. Meadows plied her trade in the cash-rich tournament in 2020 and 2021 after which Mayanti returned. Langer, who is the daughter of Indian army officer Lt. Gen. Sanjiv Langer will again be a part of the IPL as she will be seen with the microphone in hand in the 2023 edition.
Langer is also the daughter-in-law of Roger Binny, who earlier replaced Roger Binny as the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Langer started her career in broadcasting when she was a guest anchor for a broadcast of FIFA beach football in the United States of America (USA).
The success meant that she was offered a role of a or a broadcast of FIFA beach football, which was telecasted on Zee Sports. Langer didn’t look back from there and kept rising in her career, slowly, but steadily. She also worked as an anchor in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), which was scrapped a couple of seasons after its inception.
Langer also went on to work in the 50-over World Cup in 2011, the 2015 World Cup. Apart from cricket, she also hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2010, the Commonwealth Games in the same year, the 2014 Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament.
When she became a mother, she shared a reel video on Instagram where she talked about her struggles of managing a toddler. However, Langer has been able to strike the proper balance in his personal and professional life.
Lisa Sthalekar
Lisa Sthalekar is one of the greatest cricketers in Australian cricket. The veteran played eight Tests, 125 ODIs and 54 T20Is from 2001 to 2013, having scored 416, 2728 and 769 runs respectively with three hundreds and 19 half-centuries.
She got the first taste of international cricket in 2001 when Australia and England locked horns in an ODI at Derby. Two years later, Sthalekar made her debut in Tests against the English team in Brisbane. In 2005, she forayed in T20Is.
In 2003, she got her top score of 120 in Tests against England at the Bankstown Oval in Sydney. Sthalekar helped the Aussies save the Test after she played the patient knock off 120 runs with four fours and stayed unbeaten.
After Australia were reduced to 49 for four, it was Sthalekar’s partnership with Alex Blackwell that brought their team back on track. Her top score of 104 not out came against India back in November 2008. The Aussies went on to win the match by 86 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Lisa was also a part of the Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Her last competitive match was in 2017 against the Melbourne Renegades at the North Sydney Oval. For her cricketing achievements, Sthalekar also won the Belinda Clarke awards in 2007 and 2008.
In 2005, she was a part of the Australian women’s team, which stayed won the World Cup after staying unbeaten in the tournament. She was also the first cricketer to achieve the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Women’s ODIs. Back in February 2013, she announced her retirement from international cricket, but played the game until 2017.
After quitting all forms of cricket, Sthalekar took charge as a commentator. She was a part of Channel Seven’s panel for the Tokyo Olympics along with Andrew Gaze and Andy Maher. She has also been a part of number of assignments in commentary on Indian soil and will be a part of the upcoming edition of the IPL.
Mel Jones
Melanie Jones is a former Australian cricketer who played five Tests and 61 ODIs for the national team from 1998 to 2005. In those games, she scored 1279 runs with one century and five half-centuries. She made her debut back in August 1998 against England Women in Guildford. Her last international match was against India in the 2005 World Cup at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Her father played a crucial role towards her interest in cricket. Jones was introduced to the sport by her geography teacher at high school. Her teacher happened to be the father of Peter Handscomb, who recently played in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in India.
Jones, who was three years old when she moved from England to Australia with her mother, started her journey in commentary back in 2007. Cricket Australia (CA) recommended Jones’ name for the WT20I, covered by Channel 9. Thereafter, she also commentated on several men’s and women’s international cricket.
In 2015, Jones worked for Channel 10 in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). She also plied her trade as a boundary commentator in the 2017 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In 2015, Jones was among the four female commentators in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The now 50-year-old also lent her voice to the popular game, Ashes Cricket 17. Jones has also had her stint with Fox Sports.
She has also got rewards for her role as a commentator. Back in 2019, she was awarded the Order of Australia medal in the Australia Day Honours after her contributions to cricket. She is a part of the commentary panel in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it remains to be seen how she performs.
