Reports | IPL mulling idea of ‘commentary from home’ after successful 3TC trial

In what could be the first in the tournament’s history, Star Sports, the official broadcasters of the Indian Premier League (IPL), are reportedly mulling the idea of having commentators operate from their homes back in India for the 13th edition of the tournament that is set to take place in UAE later this year. The idea comes on the back of Star Sports successfully implementing ‘virtual commentators’ in the 3TC Solidarity Cup last week, where the likes of Irfan Pathan, Sanjay Manjrekar and Deep Dasgupta commentated in the game from their homes despite the action taking place in South Africa.

Now, according to a PTI report, it could very well be possible that Star implement the same for the IPL later this year, at least for commentary in regional languages like Tamil and Telugu, if not for the primary English and Hindi broadcast. 

Irfan Pathan, who was one of the ‘virtual commentators’ in the 3TC game last week, described his experience of commentating from home as ‘extraordinary’, but admitted that he was always a bit anxious and worried due to a potential internet breakdown always running on the back of his mind. Pathan did, however, admit that commentating virtually from home for the IPL would be a massive challenge. 

"It was an extraordinary experience though we were worried throughout because the internet speed can fluctuate and that affects the voice quality. Anything can happen anytime in live cricket and with technology not fully in your control, it can be tricky but Star did a wonderful job," Pathan told PTI.

“Though this was an exhibition game, everyone took it very seriously as they all wanted the show to resume (after months of break).

"Star is usually very thorough with its planning and execution but commentary from home in the IPL will be a massive challenge.”

A broadcaster expert, meanwhile, also told PTI that remote broadcast, in this day and age, has the potential to be as good as from-the-ground broadcast, if not better. The expert revealed that virtual commentators would have over 25 different camera angles at their disposal and assured that commentators would have all the tools necessary to commentate on any particular game. 

"Remote production has evolved a lot, and technology has enabled it to be at par with on site production if not better. Commentary from home is a step forward in that regard and that way anyone can log in from anywhere. It opens up to the world to you.

"Being on the ground is important but when you have a production in place where the commentator could see everything that he would see from the ground, at times with as many as 25 camera angles at his disposal, he can even see more than he would normally see at the ground," the expert argued. 

The internet speed of all commentators is said to have been increased from 5 mbps to 20 mbps, which is a minimum requirement for live production, prior to the 3TC Solidary Cup and Pathan revealed that he and his other co-commentators rehearsed a day prior to the match just to get adjusted to the nuances of virtual commentary. The former Indian pacer spoke about the challenges of virtual commentary and also cast his doubts over using the feature as a regular option going forward. 

"We rehearsed it a day before the game just to test internet quality. We had screens put but we could not see each at all times, so when to pause and when to start talking was a challenge but we pulled it off.

"At times, there was delay in the feed, so there could be overlapping in that scenario. Overall, we did alright but when you are on the ground, it takes your commentary to the next level.

"Commentary is not just about the game anymore, it is all about the cricketers.There is so much detailing and analysis nowadays. Commentary from home is surely an option but not sure how often we can use it,” Pathan concluded.