WOMEN’S DAY SPECIAL (1): Mandira says Indian cricketers were averse to women hosting cricket shows on TV

‘International Women’s Day March 8’

The 49-year-old appeared as a TV anchor for ICC Cricket World Cups in the years 2003 and 2007, the Champions Trophies in the years 2004 and 2006, and the Indian Premier League Season 2. She was one of the first few women to have hosted cricket tournaments on Indian television.

Almost Two decades ago, women TV anchor in world cricket matches were a rare sight indeed indeed. And those who made bold to stand their ground and carry on regardless, were looked upon as an oddity with utter disdain    

Actress-host Mandira Bedi recalls   how many cricketers looked down on her when she would anchor pre-match shows at cricket tournaments. 

She remembers being “stared down by a lot of cricketers” and disliked the idea of  being asked questions by her. 

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Mandira says she  made to feel out of place and felt quite intimidated by their attitude. 

“I got stared down by a lot of the cricketers like, ‘what’s she even asking, why is she even asking that.’ 

“If they did answer my question with a reluctant petulance, their answers were unconnected. Naturally, I found this very intimidating. But the channel that had selected me from out of 150-200 women, backed me all the way”.

Mandira also spoke about how male players and panelists took a lot of time to accept her in a cricket niche circuit. 

“Nobody accepted me to begin with, certainly not the people sitting on the panel. I’m friends with all the ex-cricketers now who I worked with back then as well, but they didn’t like that either. They didn’t like that there was a woman wearing a saree, dressed up, talking cricket. Nobody fed me any lines, nobody fed me any questions. I was there to represent the layperson who doesn’t know every technicality of cricket, who does not know every nuance of cricket.”

The 49-year-old appeared as a TV anchor for ICC Cricket World Cups in the years 2003 and 2007, the Champions Trophies in the years 2004 and 2006, and the Indian Premier League Season 2. She was one of the first few women to have hosted cricket tournaments on Indian television.

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