Mumbai: The voice had disappeared for months. It was only audible to the Men in Blue. But as soon as the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) first match kicked off, a familiar tone was heard on television. “This is Ravi Shastri, the commentator, speaking,” he said.
Shastri, usually mocked for his clichés, actually made his fans smile. No matter how obvious his statements are, his is one of those signature cricket voices like the late Tony Greig, Harsha Bhogle and the clan.
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Commentary is how he rose to stardom post his cricket career and after doing it for years, he was appointed to guide Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and company.
But on Thursday, his comeback words were like a tracer bullet.
His first words after Rohit Sharma hit a boundary was: “And away she goes. When this man hits the ball, it stays hit.” Do not even try to comprehend the meaning.
Shastri has the habit of raising his voice when the match “goes down to the wire” and that adds to the intensity.
Nonetheless, now he has a chance to use new phrases and tell his criticis to “shut up”.
We just get the feeling that this is going to be really close.
