Passionate scorers, lifeline in the media box

For all those familiar with reporting cricket matches at different levels what stands out is the team of scorers putting their heart and soul to meet the needs of the reporters in the media box at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium

HYDERABAD: For all those familiar with reporting cricket matches at different levels – be it the Ranji Trophy or any other first-class game, or the internationals including Test matches or the IPL – what stands out is the team of scorers putting their heart and soul to meet the needs of the reporters in the media box at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. In a way, they are the lifeline to all the media personnel!

Led by former qualified umpire and official scorer Chandrasekhar, his team comprising Sami, Ravi Kumar, Srihari Chari, Mohd Yousuf, Irfan have been spot on over the years giving all those invaluable inputs to the media which only help the reporters in giving the desired interesting flavour to the copies.

A task which is never easy given the demands of the nature of the job, for they just cannot afford to miss even a single ball. And the best part is they follow the game live and not depend on the live telecast.

Well, their contribution has been acknowledged by many including the cricketers-turned-journalists like former England captain Mike Atherton during the India-England Test match a few months ago.

The way this team of scorers complements each other in ensuring that the statistics being reeled out at the right time has always been a pleasure for those present in the media box. They rarely committed any slip-ups and the battery of five to six scorers for every IPL or international match has always been spot on.

Interestingly, Chandrasekhar was the only among late Thomas Blessington, Eshwar Pillai, MN Ravi, Swaminathan to qualify the BCCI scorers’ exam in 1997 in Nagpur.

The 61-year-old Chandrasekhar, who has never missed an IPL edition since 2008, says T-20 is a challenge not just for the players but for the scorers too. “We just cannot relax given the number of records that are broken in such a quick time during an innings,” he said.

“But, since we have the passion for scoring, we enjoy every minute of the challenge. Technology has its advantages and disadvantages too. Suppose, if there is internet failure, we have to fall back on our manual scoring skills again,” Chandrasekhar said.

“We are really thankful to the BCCI for taking care of the scorers so well since the last few years. We have some kind of recognition and that gives us immense pleasure,” he said, reflecting the feelings of his fellow scorers.