Listening to cricket commentary on Akashvani (All India Radio) is a unique tradition; however, this glorious tradition, carried on the shoulders of legends with golden voices like Berry Sarbadhikary, Anant Setalvad and Dickey Rutnagur, is gradually fading away, claimed Trinamool Congress MP from Bengal, Mohammed Nadimul Haque in Rajya Sabha on Monday, February 10.

He, therefore, appealed to the Union government for the revival of cricket commentary on All India Radio, an appeal that even earned the praise of Vice President and Chairman of the House, Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Nadimul Haque stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not granting All India Radio the right to broadcast cricket matches. He accused the Union government of destroying the legacy of cricket commentary. The absence of commentators like Sushil Doshi, Vineet Garg, Sunil Gupta and Prakash Wankar is deeply felt, he said.

Despite having 591 stations and the capability to reach 98 per cent of the population, the BCCI, led by Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, is depriving Akashvani of sports broadcasting rights.

Haque demanded that radio cricket commentary be made more engaging and be broadcast in every Indian language by knowledgeable cricket experts.

Writer, quizmaster one-time Team Director of the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, Joy Bhattacharjya shared the video of Nadimul Haque’s speech on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, writing, “Lovely to hear our parliamentarians discussing radio commentary on cricket, and was nostalgic hearing the likes of Anand Setalvad and Dicky Rutnagar being discussed. There’s a huge opportunity and audience out there!”

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar praised the Trinamool MP for raising this issue and expressed his full support for it, saying, “I appreciate your ambition because the entire nation is in aspirational mode”.

Nadimul haque presented his demand during the time reserved for Special Mentions, a mechanism for MPs in Rajya Sabha to raise issues of public importance that do not fit into other rules of the House.