Tracer bullet description originated from Iraq war, says Ravi Shastri

Thats exactly what the doctor orderedrdquo is what we often hear Ravi Shastri say during commentary Itrsquos 30 years since he did just what his inner doctor ordered and joined his fellow cricketing stalwarts in the commentary box Shastri looks back at his 1994 baptism in profound fashion When his late father called to find out how his son was faring in his postplaying career Shastri Jr told him that he felt he belonged to commentary even though he was two games into broadcasting On his return to India ldquothe done and dusted with cricketrdquo Shastri quit his job at Tata Steel and sailed away on the commentary cruise liner as it were Save the years when he headed the Indian cricket teamrsquos coaching staff which resulted in backtoback Test series wins in Australia as well as missed opportunities to grab the silverware Shastri 62 has rarely been away from the microphoneExcerpts from an exclusive interviewDid you realise that you have spent the last 30 years touring the world either as a commentator or a key member of the Indian team support staffI have not realised how 40 years of being associated with this sport have gone by I havenrsquot taken a break in all these yearsmdashas a player broadcaster and coach To realise that I started broadcasting 30 years ago is unreal When people ask me could you have done something else I say how could I think of doing something else when I could do something Irsquove loved all my lifeRavi Shastri announcing his retirement from cricket at Colombo in September 1994 Picsmidday archives Getty ImagesHow did the offer come about for that 1994 Singer World Series tournament in Sri LankaI got a call from the then producer Gary Francis who asked me if I would be interested in doing commentary for the quadrangular series in Sri Lanka I had just finished playing the Ranji Trophy Mumbai had won it 199394 and I knew how much I had struggled through that tournament I might have got the highest number of runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy season but I knew what my knees were going through I also knew at the back of my mind that playing international cricket at the level I had played might not be easy and I was not prepared to play just firstclass cricket So I said let me give this a try and see how it goesHow did your father reactHe got a shock He said are you sure when told that he felt he belonged to commentary I said yes Irsquom done and dustedhellip very clear Then I went and told my employers Tata Steel that I am done and dusted there too and that I donrsquot want to occupy a desk which should belong to somebody else and just be on your payroll I said I am going to be traveling around the globe doing this Even they got a shock They Tata Steel were my guardians for so many years I had to go and speak to Ishaat Hussainand JJ Irani and they were very kind and said anytime you want to come back or do something here you are most welcomeWere you nervous to be in front of the cameraYes I had butterflies in my stomach which happens before every big game There is always that anxiety The tosses which are live get the butterfliesgoing You f up there the world sees you have fd up A lot of other stuff is recorded but something like the toss is live Every channel around the world every pregame show will stop as you go to the toss whether it is in India England Australia or South Africa or wherever It will come to a standstill when they go to toss You make a mistake well you got to live with itmdashput your hand up and admit you screwed upWith Tony Greig in a Sharjah tournamentHow much of a role did Mark Mascarenhas play in your assignmentsMassive role because he was the main guy who was doing the production It was his telecast done by WorldTel I worked with the best in the first three to four yearsmdashTony Greig Richie Benaud Ian Chappell Michael Holding Geoffrey Boycott Tony Lewis David Gowermdashthe best in the business Then in the 1996 World Cup with a whole lot of commentators It was different it was hard but there were times when I was doing 140145 days of live cricket in a year around the globe From 1994 to 2004 I must have done at least 130140 days of live cricket which means every twoandahalf days you were on a flight across Africa Sri Lanka India Australia New Zealandmdashyou name it Sometimes in Singapore because all the companies were based there then and of course in the UK doing that 1996 India v England for Test Match Special TMS radio as well as BBC television I did a lot of neutral series as wellmdash Australia in South Africa where I saw Adam Gilchristrsquos fastest double hundred off 212 balls at Johannesburg in 2002Along with your commentary you also started writing on matches regularly I remember you faxing your handwriting your column or talking to a journalist of that particular publicationhellipI loved it but when you started broadcasting it becomes a little tedious I still love writing If I have to do it on my own I will do a pretty good job Now the whole game has changed You realise you are saying enough in commentary And with social media and other things coming in you know it becomes increasingly difficult You can make your point in a lot of other mediumsWas it special to call that India v Pakistan 1996 World Cup game in BangaloreIt was When you are doing live television you donrsquot know what to expect and you get a lot of special games You cannot over prepare because things are happening and unfolding in front of you which makes the job very exciting for me and not mundane I kept it very simple I had no agenda I just spoke on what I saw India v Pakistan is traditionally massive To be involved in a game of that magnitude was big no question about itWith Sir Garfield Sobers at a tournament in the 1990sTwo overseas legends in the box mdash excaptain Imran Khan and legendary commentator Richie Benaud Was that a proud moment for youYou are talking of Imran Richie Tony Greig Chappell Holding Henry Blofeld and Tony Cozier who did that series These are some serous blokes the biggest names in television and a lot of them captained their countriesHow much do you look up to Ian Chappell the commentatorFabulous Two of the most forthright holdnobars commentators were Chappell and and Holding had very strong views You could see why Chappell in every word he spoke He was a tactician who knew the game inside out and someone who handled some of the biggest personalities who were different in nature You could see that coming through in commentary A lot of your cricket would come through your commentaryTony Cozier was someone whose commentary you followed as a kidhellipHe was a master The voice the accent I could pick him up on radio I just had to listen to two lines and I knew I was on the right station just hearing the voice There used to Voice of America Test Match Special TMS Radio Ceylon at that time and you had to just slowly rotate that needle It would stop and if you hear lsquodriven for fourrsquo you knew it was Cozier There was Brian Johnston John Arlott and you knew you had caught TMS but Cozier would come out the clearestDoing a pitch reportAnd the other TonyGreigy was a legendhellip absolutely He knew how to sell the game He knew the pulse of the people what they wanted Letrsquos say he was a marketing genius He made cricket lively There was energy and there was Tony GreigDo you believe that 1998 CocaCola Cup in Sharjah had the best commentary team You had Sir Garfield Sobers Richie Benaud Sunil Gavaskar the Chappell brothers and yourselfhellipThese are very big games and the cricket backed it The way Sachin Tendulkar batted it was unreal He got a thousand runs against Australia in those two and a half months and those backtoback hundreds against Australia It was exhilarating stuff real fun Mark who was doing that telecast assembled some of the biggest names you will get in cricket and we had a lot of fun even after the games I remember after one of the games it two or three o clock in the morning and the game had got over at 111130 pm By the time we reached Dubai it was past midnight We were having a drink in Markrsquos room and there was Ian Sobers and me and while Sobers was having his drink and talking cricket his feet were moving as though he was anticipating a ball pitched up or down This was probably the greatest player to play this game moving his feet It was something I will never forgetWould you say Martin Crowe was unique because he had style delivery an inquisitive mind and good knowledge of TV production being a producer himselfMartin was very knowledgeable about the sport like Barry Richards and Greg Chappell They were ahead when it came to a lot of talk on batting Greg came with an allround perspective Michael Holding came with a total fast bowler and an allround perspective Boycott was an outstanding reader of the game with a sense of humour Richie had all the qualities what broadcasting needed mdash how much to speak how less to speak the content of speech all those things were very important for him You picked from each one of these guys They all had tremendous strength and I was like a sponge I absorbed everything I gotAnd how can we forget Shane Warne the commentatorhellipHe was brilliant I really miss him I missed out on three tours of Australia when I was the coach mdash 2015 2019 and 2021 and Warnie was doing commentary It would have been really fun working with him and the little commentary I did with him was terrificWhat are the origins of your lsquotracer bulletrsquo descriptionLaughs It came because of the 2003 Iraq war and I said something on air like lsquoitrsquos taken off like a scud missile into the crowd for a sixrsquo Then I said it went into the fence like a bullet a tracer bullet which is a special kind of ammunition but it is straight mdash hits wherever neededWe saw a straighttalking Ravi Shastri in that controversial moment on air with Nasser Hussain in 2011 How do you look back on itIt happens He is a fantastic broadcaster one of the best in the business and at the end of the day you are colleagues who do a lot of work together Things happen and at that moment you can be expressive just like it happens on a cricket fieldFrom the commentary box in the 2001 India v SA Test at Port Elizabeth you went for that press conference where you asked match referee Mike Denness why he was there if he was offering no comment after banning six Indian cricketers What enraged youNothing enraged me but what annoyed me was that he had come there and was not saying a word I asked what are you doing here if you are not going to say anything We know what you look likeThen during the player contracts issue you asked on air why was BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya not in England in 2002hellipAgain things happened on the spur of the moment I still rate him as one of the finest administrators We had our runins at that time but I have a lot of respect for himYou called Dalmiya the Muhammad Ali of BCCIhellipThe coffers of the ICC were empty Dalmiya singlehandedly took it the financial condition to another level He was a genius and you had to give him that respect He had his own way of functioningYou got flak for calling Lalit Modi the Moses of the gamehellipWhy flakBecause people felt you said it since you were part of the system part of the IPL and people found that oddhellipIrsquoll still say it He is a genius I mean to conceptualise what he did he has to be given credit What flak Wherever credit is due give it to him The sequence of events in 2010 was unfortunate but you cannot take away the fact that the seeds were sown by himYou are pretty chilled about trollshellipLaughs To be honest I donrsquot read them One day itrsquos trolls and next day you are in pole position Kya farak padta hainCalling the final ball of three World Cup wins involving India must have given you immense satisfaction pleasurehellip what do you call itIt was a great honour first of all especially 2011 It was unbelievable That moment still lingers in my mind when MS Dhoni hit that six in Mumbai your city it is a ground where you have played a lot of cricket and to sit in the box and call the final ball was a dream One of my most exhilarating moments of commentary was Yuvraj Singhrsquos six sixes in an over against England in the 2007 World T20 at Durban On air with me was David lsquoBumblersquo Lloyd Now he was an outstanding commentator with a great sense of humour always rising to the occasion Bumble stood out New Zealandrsquos Ian Smith is a fine one tooSmithyrsquos done it allmdashfrom rugby to cricketHave you regretted anything you said on air after returning to the hotelRegretted NoLike saying to yourself I could have put things betterYeah at times you might think there were better word options but thatrsquos how you improve become better at your job You always have to find ways and say hey that sounded good but how can it sound better But you must not have any regrets because that goes with the flow When you listen to it once or twice you say maybe the choice of words could have been differentmdashreserve it for laterThere is no retirement age in commentary so how long is the road aheadTill you enjoy it till you enjoy the travelling We commentators are very passionate about the game and I speak for every one of my age who has been around for that long That is why they are prepared to do the yards Itrsquos not easy Most importantly you have to enjoy it If you are doing it for the sake of doing it then I donrsquot think you should do itAlso ReadlsquoRavirsquos an enthusiastic commentator who talks a lot of sensersquo