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The 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kickstart on March 31. Four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), led by MS Dhoni, and defending champions Gujarat Titans, captained by Hardik Pandya, will face each other in the opening game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
MI are the five-time champions of the IPL, having won the titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. But in the last two seasons, they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Their skipper Rohit Sharma is also on the verge of scoring 6000 runs in the IPL and needs a tad over 100 runs to accomplish the milestone.
Hardik Pandya captained the Titans to glory last time around after beating the Rajasthan Royals in the final. Thereafter, he captained India for the first time on the tour of Ireland. Earlier this month, Hardik also made his captaincy debut in ODIs when he led Team India in the first ODI against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The focus will also be on MS Dhoni, who is set to play in his 16th IPL edition and his 14th for the Super Kings. At the age of 41, Dhoni is the oldest cricketer and the only player above 40 to take part in IPL 2023. The official Twitter handle of CSK has already shared a number of videos involving their skipper.
Dhoni has four IPL titles and two Champions League T20 titles to his name. Can the former Indian skipper add another title to his name? Dhoni will also have a chance to play in front of his IPL home crowd in Chennai as CSK will play their home games at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Apart from action on the field during the IPL 2023, there will also be focus on the commentary box. A number of renowned personalities will weave their magic with the microphone, adding to the excitement of the matches on the ground.
Back in 2015, the IPL introduced female commentators. Former England pacer Isa Guha, former Indian Women’s skipper Anjum Chopra, Lisa Sthalekar and Melanie Jones were picked in the commentary panel.
A total of 74 commentators have been named for IPL 2023. Along with Global IPL commentators, there will be Hindi IPL commentators, Tamil IPL commentators, Telugu IPL commentators, Kannada IPL commentators, Bengali IPL commentators, English IPL commentators, Gujarati IPL commentators and Marathi IPL commentators.
English IPL Commentators
Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Aaron Finch, Tom Moody, Paul Collingwood, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Morrison, and David Hussey, Murali Kartik, Rohan Gavaskar, Alan Wilkins, WV Raman, Scott Styris, Suren Sundaram, Ravi Shastri, Tanya Purohit.
Harsha Bhogle didn’t play competitive cricket, but the knowledge he possesses is no less than a professional cricketer. His one-liners over the years have gained a lot of popularity and one expects him to shine even in the upcoming IPL edition. From being an IIM student to becoming one of the most popular commentators, Bhogle has travelled a long distance.
Sunil Gavaskar has been a part of several IPL seasons and the focus will be on him even in the upcoming season. The Little Master has been involved in a few controversies, but he remains one of the popular faces in the commentary box.
Mpumelelo Mbangwa is presently commentating in the T20I series between South Africa and the West Indies. Mbangwa is the only commentator from Zimbabwe. He is someone who is always animated inside the commentary and there are few who can add to the excitement of a game in tense situations.
Ian Bishop will always be remembered for his ‘Remember the Name’ and ‘Dream Has Diminished’ comments when Carlos Brathwaite batted in the final of the T20 World Cup 2016 against England and the 50-over World Cup in 2019 against New Zealand.
The manner in which Bishop commentated added to the beauty of the matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Old Trafford in Manchester. Bishop and former batter Daren Ganga are the two commentators from the West Indies to be seen during IPL 2023.
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has been commentating in international matches for over a decade and has a truckload of experience with the microphone in hand.
Kevin Pietersen used to be a stylish batter during his playing days as he played some flamboyant shots against some of the best bowlers in world cricket. He is one of the English commentators, along with Graeme Swann and Nick Knight.
Daniel Vettori is one of the greatest spinners to have graced the game of cricket. He also played for the Delhi Daredevils and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. After he quit playing, Vettori became the coach of the RCB team. He was also a part of the New Zealand team, which finished as the runners-up in the 2015 World Cup.
Hindi IPL Commentators
Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Mithali Raj, Mohd Kaif, Sanjay Manjrekar, Imran Tahir, Deep Dasgupta, Ajay Mehra, Padamjeet Sehrawat & Jatin Sapru, K Srikkanth, S Badrinath, Lakshmipathi Balaji, S Ramesh, and Murali Vijay, Neroli Meadows, Anant Tyagi, Parthiv Patel, Veda Krishnamurthy, Suresh Raina, Kiran More.
Aakash Chopra, Irfan Pathan and Gautam Gambhir keep chipping in with comments on their YouTube channel and other platforms. One would also be excited to hear their voices in IPL 2023. Nikhil Chopra is also effective with the microphone in hand.
Gambhir and Pathan recently played for the India Maharajas in the Legends League in Doha, Qatar. Mohammad Kaif recently hogged the limelight after he took a few stupendous catches in the same tournament.
Murali Vijay recently pulled the curtains on his career and was also a part of the LLC. Yusuf Pathan is taking part in the Legends Cricket Trophy in Ghaziabad. Former Indian women’s cricketer Mithali Raj is also a part of the Hindi commentary panel. Mithali retired from all forms of cricket last year and recently played her part as the mentor of the Gujarat Giants in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Imran Tahir is still an active cricketer and plies his trade in various T20 leagues around the world. He recently played in the 2023 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Sanjay Manjrekar is a veteran in the commentary, although he has had his fair share of controversies with the microphone in hand.
Virender Sehwag never used to hold back while attacking bowlers during his playing days. Back in 2004, he became India’s first batter to score a triple hundred when he got to the milestone against Pakistan in Multan. After retiring, Sehwag keeps sharing his opinions on various cricket topics. The Nawab of Najafgarh doesn’t like to mince words.
Tamil IPL Commentators
Bhavna Balakrishnan, R. Muthuraman, K V Sathyanarayanan, RJ Balaji, Vishnu Hariharan, Venkatesh Prasad, Russel Arnold, R Sathish, Yomahesh Vijayakumar, Abhinav Mukund.
A number of renowned Tamil commentators, including the likes of Bhavna Balakrishnan, R. Muthuraman and K V Sathyanarayanan will be there describing the happenings of the IPL in April and May.
Telugu IPL Commentators
Kaushik NC, R Sridhar, MSK Prasad, Kalyan Krishna, Kalyan Kollarapu, T Suman, Ashish Reddy.
R Sridhar and MSK Prasad are the renowned Telugu commentators, who would be there during the IPL. Sridhar has a fair knowledge of Indian cricket and he has served as the fielding coach of the men’s team for around three years.
MSK Prasad is a former wicketkeeper for India and later went on to become the head of the men’s selection committee. He also picked India’s squad for the 50-over World Cup, which took place in England and Wales four years ago.
Kannada IPL Commentators
Madhu Mailankody, Reena Dsouza, Kiran Srinivasa, Sumesh Goni, Vijay Bharadwaj, Akhil Balachandra, Bharath Chipli.
Vijay Bharadwaj is a former Indian cricketer, who played from 1999 to 2002. In three Tests and 10 ODIs, the now 47-year-old picked up 17 wickets and scored 164 runs with a top score of 41 not out. Although his international career never flourished, he turned out to have a quite successful career in domestic cricket.
Bharadwaj scored 5553 runs from 96 matches at the first-class level at an average of 41.75 with 14 centuries and a top score of 207 not out to show for his efforts.
Marathi IPL Commentators
Snehal Pradhan, Vinod Kambli, Sandeep Patil, Amol Muzumdar, Pavan Deshpande.
Vinod Kambli will be seen commentating in the IPL in Marathi. Kambli started his cricket career with some scintillating knocks and was deemed a better talent than the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. However, as his career progressed, he became inconsistent and eventually ended up losing his place from the national team.
Last year, Kambli said that he was in “dire need of work”. The veteran said that he was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and was surviving on INR 30,000 per month from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Kambli also coached a team in the Mumbai T20 league back in 2019.
Amol Muzumdar was considered one of the unluckiest cricketers since he didn’t get to play for India despite scoring heaps of runs at the domestic level. He was the leading run-scorer in India’s domestic circuit for quite some time.
Snehal Pradhan is a former Indian women’s cricketer, who played six ODIs and four T20Is for the Women in Blue from 2008 to 2011. The now 37-year-old is lately seen giving her opinions on women’s cricket and a number of other topics.
Sandeep Patil was a part of the Indian team, which won the 50-over World Cup back in 1983 under the leadership of the legendary Kapil Dev.
Gujarati IPL Commentators
Karan Mehta, Manan Desai, Dhvanit Thaker, Akash Trivedi, Manpreet Juneja, Nayan Mongia.
Manpreet Juneja never got to play for India, but he did well for Gujarat at the domestic level. In 69 first-class, 53 List A and 44 T20 matches, Juneja scored 4265, 1397 and 952 runs respectively. He scored 11 hundreds and 39 half-centuries.
The now 32-year-old has also been a part of the Delhi Daredevils, now Capitals, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. He also had a chance to represent India A. Juneja hasn’t played any form of cricket since representing Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy back in February 2022.
Nayan Mongia used to be one of the most efficient wicketkeepers in the Indian team. He made his Test and ODI debut in 1994 against Sri Lanka in Lucknow and Rajkot respectively. From there on, he went on to play seven years until 2001.
In 44 Tests, 140 ODIs, Mongia scored 1442 and 1272 runs with one century and eight half-centuries. In List A and first-class cricket, Mongia nearly scored 10000 runs with 13 centuries and 54 half-centuries.
Bengali IPL Commentators
Ashoke Dinda, Sanjeeb Mukherjea, Saradindu Mukherjee, Gautam Bhattacharya, Joydeep Mukherjee, Debasish Datta.
Ashoke Dinda played for the Indian cricket team back in 2012, but his international cricket hardly flourished. However, he garnered plenty of laurels for his domestic team, Bengal. He is one of the commentators, who will be speaking in Bengali in the upcoming IPL edition.
Global IPL Commentators
Danny Morrison, Morne Morkel, Simon Doull, Matthew Hayden, Nicholas Knight, Graeme Smith.
Former New Zealand cricketers Simon Doull and Darry Morrison commentated in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 where the Lahore Qalandars became the champions after beating Mohammad Rizwan’s Multan Sultans in the final at the iconic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Black Caps’ duo will now be heading to India for their jobs in IPL 2023.
Matthew Hayden has been involved with cricket in India for quite some time. Back in 2001, the southpaw played some brilliant knocks against the hosts, although it was India, who won the three-match Test series 2-1. Thereafter, Hayden played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL.
After retiring from the game, Hayden started his second innings in cricket as a commentator. He was also seen during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he put forth his opinions on various topics, including Australia’s campaign and India’s performance in home conditions.
Hayden has often said that he enjoys traveling to India and keeps posting pictures on his social media handle. It won’t be the last time when Hayden is seen in India with the microphone in hand. He remains one of the most popular Australian cricketers on India soil, along with Brett Lee and others.
